Scotiabank Initiates Coverage on Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Equities researchers at Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank’s price objective points to a potential upside of 12.02% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Upwork from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Upwork from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.58.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $13.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $15.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.11.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Dave Bottoms sold 5,360 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total transaction of $91,709.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,974.62. The trade was a 35.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total value of $852,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,215,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,254,178.60. The trade was a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 288,187 shares of company stock worth $4,769,213 in the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Upwork by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,498,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,289,493 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Upwork by 1,674.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,748,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,766 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Upwork by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,303,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,005,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,078 shares during the last quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,633,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $18,838,000. 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.