Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.09.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UPWK. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Upwork from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Friday, January 17th.

Upwork Trading Up 3.6 %

UPWK stock opened at $16.26 on Friday. Upwork has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $18.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.85, for a total transaction of $158,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,168,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,526,272.50. This represents a 0.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Olivier Marie sold 9,153 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.92, for a total transaction of $145,715.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,294 shares in the company, valued at $20,600.48. This represents a 87.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 213,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,750. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its position in Upwork by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 2,334,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,397,000 after buying an additional 260,274 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 27.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,806,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,424,000 after acquiring an additional 389,006 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 1.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,011,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,570,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,369,000. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Upwork by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 540,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,643,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Company Profile

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.