BTIG Research Downgrades Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) to Neutral

BTIG Research lowered shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

UPWK has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank began coverage on Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.58.

Upwork Trading Down 5.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $11.87 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $14.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.52. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. 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 company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.60.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 21,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total value of $341,120.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,275,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,592,590.45. This trade represents a 1.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total value of $70,721.77. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,593 shares in the company, valued at $125,380.51. The trade was a 36.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 193,365 shares of company stock valued at $3,050,760. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 40.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 251,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,630,000 after buying an additional 73,104 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Upwork by 2,216.8% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 503,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,263,000 after acquiring an additional 481,942 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at about $544,000. Tabor Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the third quarter valued at about $993,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 228.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 211,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,211,000 after purchasing an additional 147,059 shares during the last quarter. 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.