Analysts Have a Wall of Holds on Figma, UiPath and GitLab but Institutions Are Quietly Loading Up
Sell-side analysts are piling Holds on three high-flying software names while major institutions keep quietly building positions, and the gap between what the smart money owns and what analysts will endorse may tell you more about the next move than…
The sell-side signal on these three software names is cautious, and on two of them it is now openly bearish relative to where the stock trades. The institutional signal, read through aggregate ownership levels, points the other way, leaving retail investors with a genuine disagreement to price rather than a clean directional cue.
Analyst Coverage: Holds Outnumber Buys Three to One
Start with the ratings mix. On UiPath (NYSE:PATH | PATH Price Prediction), sell-side coverage skews decisively to the sidelines. The consensus price target is $13.44, well beneath the $18.33 close on August 27, 2026. In other words, the average analyst is modeling a price lower than the current price.
The distribution of GitLab (NASDAQ:GTLB) ratings tells the same story, and the consensus target of $38.48 is again below the last print of $44.81. Figma (NYSE:FIG) is the only one of the three where the consensus target of $30.80 essentially meets the current price of $30.62. Its coverage still leans neutral.
Across 61 total ratings on the three names, 41 are Holds. That is a wall.
Institutional Positioning: The Smart Money Owns Nearly All the Float
Institutional ownership tells the opposite story. Institutions reportedly hold 65.2% of UiPath, 95.0% of GitLab, and 62.3% of Figma. These are quarter-end 13F snapshots and are disclosed with roughly a 45-day lag, so no filer should be assumed to hold the position today, and a change in reported market value is not a trade. Still, the ownership base is dense, and the newer disclosures show large funds continuing to establish and add to positions in the same names sell-side coverage refuses to endorse.
Fundamentals under those positions remain solid. UiPath posted Q1 FY27 revenue of $418 million, up 17% year over year, with ARR of $1.901 billion and dollar-based net retention of 109%. GitLab delivered $264 million in Q1 FY27 revenue, growth of 23%, and 117% net retention. Figma reported Q2 2026 revenue of $370 million, up 48%, with net dollar retention of 136%.
Gap Between Target and Tape: What Retail Should Do About It
The gap is the whole story. All three stocks moved sharply higher into late August. UiPath is up 57.8% over one month and 64.5% over one year. GitLab is up 36.3% over one month against a one-year change of −5.2%. Figma is up 33.5% over one month, still down 56.2% from a year ago. The catalyst behind the coordinated August rally remains unidentified.
That rally has pushed UiPath and GitLab above their consensus targets. Analysts have not chased. Institutions, if the ownership base is any guide, have not sold en masse. A retail investor buying today is paying more than the average analyst thinks the business is worth, at a price where positioning is already crowded. (Chasing strength above consensus can work with guardrails, and we spell out 10 rules for doing it in a free breakout buyer’s rulebook.)
Takeaway: Watch Target Revisions Into Next Earnings
The smart money is mixed in conviction. It is heavily invested and, based on the density of Hold ratings around it, hedged in conviction. The check to watch is target revisions. If sell-side price targets on UiPath and GitLab move up to meet the tape over the next earnings cycle, the analyst wall breaks and the institutional bid is validated. If targets stay where they are while the stocks hold recent gains, the gap closes the other way, and August’s rally becomes the exit liquidity that retail investors rarely want to provide.
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Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.
Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.
Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.
Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.
