Wall Street Zen Upgrades Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) to "Buy"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Upwork's stock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, signaling increased confidence in the company's performance.
• Analysts at JMP Securities raised their target price for Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00, indicating a positive market outlook.
• Upwork's board has authorized a $100 million share buyback, reflecting management's belief that the company's stock is undervalued following a strong earnings report.

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on UPWK. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Upwork from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.42.

Upwork Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $19.15 on Friday. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $9.93 and a fifty-two week high of $20.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.36.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.56 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%.The business's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upwork announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $263,458.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,895,355.68. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,894 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $208,729.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $198,478.44. This represents a 51.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 222,576 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,318 over the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Upwork during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Upwork by 415.9% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in Upwork in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Upwork by 19,361.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Upwork by 3,492.8% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 3,877 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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