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

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.50.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of UPWK stock opened at $17.40 on Tuesday. Upwork has a 52 week low of $8.43 and a 52 week high of $18.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a current ratio of 3.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.45 and its 200-day moving average is $15.12.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $188.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 40,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.92, for a total transaction of $636,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,183,741 shares in the company, valued at $18,845,156.72. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.58, for a total value of $1,318,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,536.42. This represents a 82.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 233,108 shares of company stock worth $3,683,448 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Upwork by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,498,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,405,000 after acquiring an additional 5,289,493 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Upwork by 364.5% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,351,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,836,000 after purchasing an additional 4,199,244 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Upwork by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,303,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,005,000 after buying an additional 1,534,078 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,788,000 after buying an additional 397,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 50.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,630,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,326,000 after buying an additional 882,059 shares during the last quarter. 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.