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 ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.27.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Upwork from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Upwork from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

Upwork Price Performance

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $10.55 on Monday. Upwork has a 52 week low of $8.43 and a 52 week high of $16.36. The company has a quick ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.99.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $193.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.05 million. Upwork had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.03) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 31,506 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $304,032.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,190,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,488,913.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Dave Bottoms sold 5,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.81, for a total value of $57,074.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,074.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 31,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $304,032.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,190,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,488,913.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 176,785 shares of company stock worth $1,800,489. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UPWK. New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork in the first quarter valued at $1,083,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 5.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,996,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,115,000 after acquiring an additional 770,088 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 186.8% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 306,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,299,000 after acquiring an additional 199,900 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 239.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Upwork during the first quarter worth about $1,344,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

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.