Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Receives $18.67 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.67.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UPWK shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total transaction of $852,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,215,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,254,178.60. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Layton sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.47, for a total value of $4,367,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,867,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,629,924.43. This represents a 11.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 566,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,478,580. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $806,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Upwork during the fourth quarter worth $1,019,000. Dorsey Asset Management LLC increased its position in Upwork by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,788,000 after acquiring an additional 397,997 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 385.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 232,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,795,000 after acquiring an additional 184,289 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter worth about $419,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upwork Trading Up 1.0%

UPWK stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, reaching $15.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,608,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,254,538. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a current ratio of 3.39. Upwork has a 12-month low of $8.43 and a 12-month high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $192.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.49 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. The firm's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

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.