Upwork’s (UPWK) “Sector Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $18.00 price target on the stock.

UPWK has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upwork has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.67.

Upwork Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of UPWK stock opened at $15.69 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $14.29 and a 200-day moving average of $15.29. The company has a quick ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Upwork has a 12-month low of $8.43 and a 12-month high of $18.14. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 1.52.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. The company had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other news, Director Thomas Layton sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.47, for a total transaction of $4,367,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,867,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,629,924.43. This trade represents a 11.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $70,721.77. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,380.51. This represents a 36.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 566,868 shares of company stock worth $9,478,580 over the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UPWK. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Upwork by 3,492.8% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,877 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Upwork by 1,235.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares during the period. Nkcfo LLC bought a new position in Upwork during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Upwork during the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Upwork by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.