R Squared Ltd Takes Position in Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of Upstart by 153.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,246,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,886,000 after purchasing an additional 754,416 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Upstart by 689.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 589,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,566,000 after acquiring an additional 514,400 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 1,413.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 333,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,342,000 after acquiring an additional 311,434 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Upstart by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 725,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,031,000 after acquiring an additional 282,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Upstart by 1,792.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 262,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,190,000 after purchasing an additional 277,896 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $105,543.35. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,007 shares in the company, valued at $1,397,488.95. This represents a 7.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $2,714,605.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,506.80. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 391,035 shares of company stock valued at $26,890,777 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $37.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.80.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPST opened at $67.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of -34.88 and a beta of 2.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.91. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.60 and a 1-year high of $88.95.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.31). Upstart had a negative return on equity of 32.57% and a negative net margin of 30.15%. The firm had revenue of $162.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.48) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upstart Company 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.