Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on UPWK. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.67.

Upwork Price Performance

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $15.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.29. Upwork has a one year low of $8.43 and a one year high of $18.14. 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 (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. The business had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other Upwork news, Director Thomas Layton sold 250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.47, for a total value of $4,367,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,867,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,629,924.43. This represents a 11.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 1,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.41, for a total transaction of $26,584.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 566,868 shares of company stock worth $9,478,580. Insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Upwork by 5.7% in the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 67,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 178,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Upwork by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 263,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,313,000 after buying an additional 2,636 shares during the period. 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.