Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Raised to “Buy” at UBS Group

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) was upgraded by UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $21.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 24.41% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.42.

Upwork Price Performance

NASDAQ UPWK opened at $16.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.54. Upwork has a 1 year low of $11.13 and a 1 year high of $20.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $16.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.36.

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 8,730 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $167,266.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 218,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,188,471.80. This trade represents a 3.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,082,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,160. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 222,576 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,318 over the last three months. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UPWK. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc bought a new stake in Upwork in the 3rd quarter valued at $407,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 246,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,600,000 after acquiring an additional 7,419 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork during the 3rd quarter valued at about $117,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Upwork by 9.7% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 93,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after acquiring an additional 8,276 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Upwork by 13.7% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 195,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,630,000 after purchasing an additional 23,588 shares in the last quarter. 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.