Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) by 1,675.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 118,687 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 112,002 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Upstart worth $5,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Upstart by 190.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,709,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,300 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Upstart by 300.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,061,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,357,000 after acquiring an additional 796,252 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at $43,697,000. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Upstart by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,915,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,914,000 after purchasing an additional 668,282 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Upstart by 886.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 709,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,695,000 after purchasing an additional 637,706 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In other Upstart news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 6,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total value of $457,701.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 24,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,725,087.38. This represents a 20.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 13,512 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.97, for a total value of $634,658.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 311,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,624,391.32. This trade represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 109,983 shares of company stock worth $6,537,899. Insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UPST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Upstart from $70.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Upstart to a “sell” rating and set a $71.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler raised shares of Upstart to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Upstart from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Upstart currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.62.

Upstart Stock Up 3.8%

NASDAQ:UPST opened at $76.96 on Thursday. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.60 and a 52 week high of $96.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $58.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.14. The company has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a PE ratio of -102.61 and a beta of 2.37.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.11. Upstart had a negative net margin of 9.20% and a negative return on equity of 15.27%. The firm had revenue of $213.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.31) earnings per share. Upstart’s quarterly revenue was up 67.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upstart Profile

Upstart Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform in the United States. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small dollar loans that connects consumer demand for loans to its to bank and credit unions.