Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Key Points

• Upwork's shares opened at $13.63 after the company reported earnings of $0.35 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.26.
• The company's revenue for the quarter was $194.94 million, surpassing analyst expectations, and Upwork's stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy"** with an average price target of $18.67.
• CEO Hayden Brown and another insider sold a combined 35,278 shares recently, reflecting notable insider activity amidst stock trading volatility.

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $11.95, but opened at $13.63. Upwork shares last traded at $12.94, with a volume of 1,879,297 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. Upwork had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%. The business had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Upwork's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on UPWK. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upwork from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.67.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,716 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total value of $320,403.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,153,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,583,582.35. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total transaction of $156,202.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,345 shares in the company, valued at $126,250.95. The trade was a 55.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 425,454 shares of company stock worth $7,148,563. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,498,688 shares of the company's stock worth $253,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,289,493 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Upwork by 364.5% in the first 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork during the first quarter valued at approximately $22,079,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 1,674.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,748,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,766 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Upwork by 86.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,303,035 shares of the company's stock worth $54,005,000 after buying an additional 1,534,078 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Upwork Trading Up 2.2%

The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 1.38. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $13.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 3.36.

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.