Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.36.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Upwork from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $18.00 price target (up from $13.00) on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity

In other Upwork news, VP Dave Bottoms sold 5,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total value of $91,709.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,642 shares in the company, valued at $164,974.62. This represents a 35.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Olivier Marie sold 9,153 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.92, for a total transaction of $145,715.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,294 shares in the company, valued at $20,600.48. This represents a 87.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 213,813 shares of company stock worth $3,525,935. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in Upwork by 104.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Upwork stock opened at $16.11 on Wednesday. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $16.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.44. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57 and a beta of 1.58.

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

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.