Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on UPWK. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Upwork from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Upwork from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $17.30.

Upwork Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $12.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.01, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.21. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.83 and a beta of 1.66. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $6.56 and a fifty-two week high of $16.36.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. Upwork had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 6.70%. The business had revenue of $183.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.43 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total value of $241,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,831,978.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 67,531 shares of company stock worth $851,894 over the last ninety days. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UPWK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,226,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,414,000 after purchasing an additional 660,966 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 2,216.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,893,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,231,000 after acquiring an additional 3,725,442 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 239.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,252,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589,693 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork during the third quarter valued at $16,987,000. Finally, Mak Capital One LLC acquired a new position in Upwork in the 3rd quarter worth about $15,528,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.