Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Receives "Sector Perform" Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.03% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BTIG Research downgraded Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.67.

Upwork Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of UPWK traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $14.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.29. Upwork has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $18.14. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Upwork's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Olivier Marie sold 1,655 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.41, for a total transaction of $27,158.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,234.54. This trade represents a 56.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 1,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.41, for a total value of $26,584.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 566,868 shares of company stock worth $9,478,580. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,498,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,405,000 after buying an additional 5,289,493 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 364.5% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,351,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,836,000 after buying an additional 4,199,244 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at $22,079,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 1,674.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,748,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,585,000 after buying an additional 1,649,766 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,303,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,005,000 after buying an additional 1,534,078 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.