Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.36.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Upwork Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Upwork stock opened at $16.96 on Friday. Upwork has a 52-week low of $8.43 and a 52-week high of $17.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.18.

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

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 9,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.57, for a total transaction of $99,823.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,178,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,460,444.50. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Olivier Marie sold 9,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.92, for a total value of $145,715.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,600.48. This represents a 87.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 214,808 shares of company stock worth $2,756,163 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Upwork by 104.2% in the 2nd 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 shares of Upwork by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

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.