Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.65% from the stock’s previous close.

UPWK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Upwork from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up from $13.00) on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.09.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $16.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 3.18. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.82. Upwork has a 1-year low of $8.43 and a 1-year high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. Upwork had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 22.84%. The firm had revenue of $193.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Upwork will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Upwork news, VP Dave Bottoms sold 5,360 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total value of $91,709.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,974.62. This trade represents a 35.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.13, for a total value of $299,816.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 128,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,950,847.07. This trade represents a 13.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 213,590 shares of company stock valued at $3,523,638 in the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UPWK. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter worth $97,000. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at about $544,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Upwork by 13.9% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 226,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,366,000 after purchasing an additional 27,639 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Upwork in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in Upwork by 198.6% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 60,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 40,242 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Upwork

Upwork Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a work marketplace that connects businesses with various independent professionals and agencies in the United States, India, the Philippines, and internationally. The company’s work marketplace provides access to talent with various skills across a range of categories, including administrative support, sales and marketing, design and creative, and customer service, as well as web, mobile, and software development.