Don't Ignore The Insider Selling In Upstart Holdings

We wouldn't blame Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Sanjay Datta, the Chief Financial Officer recently netted about US$635k selling shares at an average price of US$46.97. However, it's crucial to note that they remain very much invested in the stock and that sale only reduced their holding by 8.4%.

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Upstart Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Chief Financial Officer Sanjay Datta was not their only sale of Upstart Holdings shares this year. They previously made an even bigger sale of -US$1.3m worth of shares at a price of US$70.50 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$45.26. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Upstart Holdings insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

See our latest analysis for Upstart Holdings

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that Upstart Holdings insiders own 13% of the company, worth about US$542m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Upstart Holdings Tell Us?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Upstart Holdings. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for Upstart Holdings that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.