Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.4167.

Several research firms have issued reports on UPWK. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,082,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,160. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total transaction of $199,879.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,886.20. This represents a 96.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 222,576 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,318 in the last three months. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 264,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Straightline Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Straightline Group LLC now owns 37,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 14,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Price Performance

UPWK stock opened at $16.12 on Tuesday. Upwork has a 12 month low of $11.13 and a 12 month high of $20.54. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.54.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.56 million. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Upwork announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.