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

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating reissued by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price target points to a potential upside of 6.64% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on UPWK. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Upwork from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 research report on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Upwork has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Upwork Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,711,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,238,808. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39. Upwork has a one year low of $8.43 and a one year high of $18.14.

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

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 21,122 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total transaction of $341,120.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,275,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,592,590.45. This represents a 1.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 4,316 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $56,410.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 160,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,103,551.15. This represents a 2.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 233,108 shares of company stock valued at $3,683,448 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Upwork during the 1st quarter valued at about $241,000. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Upwork by 364.5% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,351,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,836,000 after purchasing an additional 4,199,244 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Upwork during the 1st quarter valued at about $504,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Upwork by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Upwork by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 43,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 16,944 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company's stock.

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.