Vulcan Value Partners, an investment management firm, published its “Vulcan Value Partners Large Cap Fund” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. Vulcan’s Large Cap Composite Fund delivered a 1.2% net return for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to its benchmarks, the Russell 1000 Value Index and S&P 500 Index which delivered 7.8% and 11% returns respectively for the same period. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.
Vulcan Value Partners Large Cap Fund, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) and discussed its stance on the firm. Founded in 2012, Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) is a San Mateo, California-based cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform with a $10.6 billion market capitalization, and is currently spearheaded by its CEO, Dave Girouard. Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) delivered a -21.57% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 5.69%. The stock closed at $118.67 per share on March 22, 2022.
Here is what Vulcan Value Partners Large Cap Fund has to say about Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:
“Upstart Holdings Inc. was another material detractor during the quarter. Upstart is an artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based lending platform. Upstart uses over 1600 variables in its AI models. Its lending platform delivers lower default rates, higher approval rates, lower rates for consumers, and higher returns on investment for its bank and institutional clients. As former owners of FICO, we believe Upstart has the potential to be the FICO of the 21st century. Recent stock price volatility has given us an opportunity to follow our investment discipline. During the third quarter of 2021, Upstart’s stock price increased significantly, and we materially reduced our position in the company. Following its most recent earnings release, our value increased but Upstart’s stock price began to decline significantly. With a significantly improved price to value ratio, we added to our position in Upstart. We simply took advantage of stock price volatility to manage risk in the portfolio and improve our returns and our prospective returns.”
Photo by Danial Igdery on Unsplash
Our calculations show that Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) was in 20 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 23 funds in the previous quarter. Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) delivered a -18.32% return in the past 3 months.
In January 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
