Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Shares Gap Up to $11.96

Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $11.96, but opened at $12.97. Upwork shares last traded at $12.60, with a volume of 835,536 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Upwork from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Upwork from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Upwork from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Upwork presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $16.55.

Upwork Stock Up 8.6 %

The stock's 50 day moving average is $12.20 and its 200 day moving average is $13.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 183.74 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a current ratio of 3.01.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.43 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 6.80%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total transaction of $241,400.00. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 67,531 shares of company stock worth $851,894. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,565,252 shares of the company's stock worth $165,461,000 after buying an additional 702,595 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Upwork by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,370 shares of the company's stock worth $10,864,000 after purchasing an additional 43,081 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Upwork by 143.1% in the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 115,738 shares of the company's stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 68,124 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Upwork by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 182,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 67,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Upwork by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 129,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 60,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.