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

Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.9091.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on UPWK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Upwork from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, November 19th.

Upwork Stock Performance

UPWK opened at $17.05 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.36 and a 200-day moving average of $17.58. Upwork has a 1-year low of $11.13 and a 1-year high of $22.84.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $201.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.33 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 31.63%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total value of $232,358.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,220.53. This represents a 53.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 18,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total transaction of $308,833.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 237,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,968,120.40. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 523,248 shares of company stock worth $10,029,741. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners grew its position in Upwork by 785.7% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,322,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,962,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060,356 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 3rd quarter valued at $24,782,000. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Upwork by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,534,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,169 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Upwork by 93.6% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,862,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,580,000 after buying an additional 900,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork during the second quarter worth approximately $11,955,000. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Company Profile

Upwork Inc operates a leading online talent marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals worldwide. Through its digital platform, the company enables clients across industries—including technology, marketing, creative services and customer support—to source, hire and manage freelance talent on demand. Key features of the Upwork platform include streamlined job posting, proposal evaluation, time-tracking tools, invoicing and secure payment processing, all designed to simplify collaboration between clients and remote workers.

The company traces its roots to the merger of two pioneering freelance marketplaces, Elance (founded in 1998) and oDesk (founded in 2003), which combined in 2015 to form a unified entity.