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

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.55.

A number of research firms have recently commented on UPWK. UBS Group upped their price objective on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Upwork from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Upwork from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th.

Upwork Stock Performance

Upwork stock opened at $11.91 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.14. Upwork has a 52 week low of $6.56 and a 52 week high of $16.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 170.17 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $183.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.43 million. Upwork had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 14.21%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 43,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.86, for a total transaction of $562,162.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,165,980 shares in the company, valued at $14,994,502.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,567 shares of company stock valued at $853,087. Insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Upwork by 2,216.0% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,893,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,231,000 after purchasing an additional 3,725,442 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 296.2% in the second quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 2,247,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,990,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680,145 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 239.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,252,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589,693 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Upwork during the third quarter worth approximately $16,987,000. Finally, Mak Capital One LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork in the third quarter worth approximately $15,528,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.