Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Sector Perform Rating for Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $18.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.71% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on UPWK. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BTIG Research downgraded Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upwork currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.50.

Upwork Stock Up 18.8 %

NASDAQ UPWK traded up $2.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,245,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,218,369. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.94.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. The company had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.49 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Upwork’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other Upwork news, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.58, for a total transaction of $1,318,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,299 shares in the company, valued at $286,536.42. This represents a 82.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $70,721.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,380.51. This trade represents a 36.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 193,108 shares of company stock worth $3,046,648 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 3,492.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 3,877 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Upwork by 1,235.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares in the last quarter. Nkcfo LLC purchased a new position in Upwork in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Upwork during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.