Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Rating Reiterated by Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on UPWK. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BTIG Research raised Upwork from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upwork has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $17.30.

Upwork Stock Down 0.8 %

UPWK stock opened at $12.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.83 and a beta of 1.66. Upwork has a one year low of $6.56 and a one year high of $16.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a current ratio of 2.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.21.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $183.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.43 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 6.70%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total value of $241,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,980 shares in the company, valued at $13,831,978.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 67,531 shares of company stock worth $851,894. Corporate insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Upwork by 2,216.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,893,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,231,000 after buying an additional 3,725,442 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 239.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,252,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,693 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Upwork during the third quarter worth approximately $16,987,000. Mak Capital One LLC purchased a new stake in Upwork in the third quarter valued at approximately $15,528,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at $19,082,000. 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.