Erste Asset Management GmbH Buys Shares of 83,400 Upstart Holdings, Inc. $UPST

Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 83,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,237,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.09% of Upstart at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Upstart by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,009,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,965,000 after buying an additional 73,582 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Upstart in the second quarter valued at approximately $67,777,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Upstart by 9.2% in the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 739,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,815,000 after acquiring an additional 62,212 shares in the last quarter. Mane Global Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Upstart during the 2nd quarter worth $43,576,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 550,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,947,000 after purchasing an additional 229,315 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 1,500 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $75,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,196,700. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,981 shares of company stock valued at $357,201. Insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UPST. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Upstart from $55.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Upstart from $81.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Upstart from $88.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.50.

Upstart Stock Down 8.2%

UPST opened at $27.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.38. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.80 and a 12-month high of $87.30.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $296.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.54 million. Upstart had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Upstart announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Upstart

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.