JMP Securities Reiterates “Market Outperform” Rating for Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating restated by JMP Securities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.21% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on UPWK. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $18.00 target price (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.09.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of Upwork stock opened at $15.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 1.59. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $16.61 and a 200 day moving average of $13.17. Upwork has a 12 month low of $8.43 and a 12 month high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Upwork will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 8,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.12, for a total transaction of $154,028.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,238,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,197,230.72. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Dave Bottoms sold 5,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total transaction of $91,709.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,974.62. The trade was a 35.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 213,847 shares of company stock worth $3,527,750 in the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 104.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Upwork by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 71.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Nkcfo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Upwork during the fourth quarter worth about $97,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.