Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Strong-Buy" Rating

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered their target price on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Upwork presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.67.

Upwork Stock Performance

Upwork stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.82. 1,608,448 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,259,811. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a current ratio of 3.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $14.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.29. Upwork has a 52 week low of $8.43 and a 52 week high of $18.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.52.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $192.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $188.49 million. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total value of $70,721.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,380.51. This represents a 36.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas Layton sold 250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,867,769 shares in the company, valued at $32,629,924.43. The trade was a 11.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 566,868 shares of company stock worth $9,478,580. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,289,493 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,199,244 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,079,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 1,674.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,748,320 shares of the company's stock worth $28,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company's stock.

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.