Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Upwork Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from twelve research firms, with an average 1-year price target of $18.67.
• The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.26, and its revenue was up by 0.9% year-over-year.
• Upwork's Board of Directors has authorized a $100 million share repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.6667.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UPWK. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Upwork from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Monday, June 2nd.

Upwork Price Performance

UPWK opened at $16.19 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.76 and a 200-day moving average of $14.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.43. Upwork has a 1-year low of $8.90 and a 1-year high of $18.14. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. The business had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upwork announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In related news, CAO Olivier Marie sold 1,879 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.50, for a total transaction of $25,366.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $62,532. This represents a 28.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 25,577 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $353,985.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,118,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,477,147.44. This represents a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,608 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,556. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 12.8% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 115,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 13,044 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Upwork by 385.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 232,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,795,000 after buying an additional 184,289 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Upwork by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,194,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,526,000 after buying an additional 60,779 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Upwork by 174.1% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 54,365 shares of the company's stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 34,534 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Upwork by 1,235.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 3,767 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Upwork

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.

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