Wall Street Zen Downgrades Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Upwork (NASDAQ: UPWK) from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating, reflecting changes in analyst sentiment.
• Upwork recently reported earnings of $0.35 per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a net margin of 31.75%.
• A variety of institutional investors have increased their stakes in Upwork, with 77.71% of the stock currently owned by such investors.

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

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on UPWK. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. JMP Securities raised their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.67.

Upwork Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $13.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.41, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Upwork has a 52-week low of $8.67 and a 52-week high of $18.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.38.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. The company had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Upwork's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total transaction of $156,202.62. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,345 shares in the company, valued at $126,250.95. This trade represents a 55.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.43, for a total value of $1,045,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 356,712 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,490.16. This trade represents a 14.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 505,454 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,163 over the last three months. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. LPL Financial LLC bought a new stake in Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at $1,175,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Upwork by 163.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 381,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,245,000 after buying an additional 237,230 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Upwork by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,075,000 after buying an additional 3,543 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Upwork by 20,322.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 79,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 79,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Upwork by 1,674.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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