Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 52,021 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 81% compared to the typical daily volume of 28,781 put options.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total value of $238,342.52. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 9,481 shares of company stock valued at $282,201 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clearstead Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Upstart by 749.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Upstart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Upstart by 132.2% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Upstart by 72.1% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Citigroup lowered Upstart from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Compass Point raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Upstart from $59.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.00.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of Upstart stock opened at $25.33 on Friday. Upstart has a 1-year low of $24.93 and a 1-year high of $87.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 60.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 2.44.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Upstart’s revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Upstart announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.