Citigroup Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Upstart Holdings, Inc. $UPST

Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 550,138 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 229,315 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.57% of Upstart worth $27,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Upstart by 1,116.8% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 89,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,800,000 after purchasing an additional 82,305 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Upstart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $991,000. Tableaux LLC acquired a new position in Upstart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,587,000. Sepio Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Upstart by 42.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 256,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,565,000 after buying an additional 75,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 89,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,785,000 after buying an additional 21,140 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of UPST opened at $28.44 on Thursday. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.80 and a 1-year high of $87.30. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.40.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. Upstart had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The firm had revenue of $296.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Upstart’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upstart declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total transaction of $238,342.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 276,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,261,903.68. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $75,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,934 shares in the company, valued at $1,196,700. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,115 shares of company stock valued at $332,269. 16.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UPST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market underperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a report on Friday, February 13th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Upstart from $55.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Upstart from $80.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Upstart from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.50.

Upstart Company Profile

Upstart Holdings, Inc operates a cloud-based lending marketplace that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess borrower creditworthiness. The company partners with banks and credit unions, providing its proprietary AI models and underwriting platform to facilitate consumer credit products. By focusing on non‐traditional data points—such as education, employment history and other real‐time indicators—Upstart seeks to improve approval rates and lower loss rates compared with conventional credit scoring methods.

Upstart’s core offering centers on unsecured personal loans, which borrowers can use for purposes such as debt consolidation, home improvements or major purchases.