Analysts Set Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) PT at $18.67

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.6667.

UPWK has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other Upwork news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,562 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total value of $156,202.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,250.95. The trade was a 55.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $825,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,093,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,046,353.60. This trade represents a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,608 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,556. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Upwork by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 67,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Upwork by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,194,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,526,000 after purchasing an additional 60,779 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Upwork by 385.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 232,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,795,000 after purchasing an additional 184,289 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Upwork during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,211,000. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Upwork by 281.0% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 184,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 135,795 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of UPWK stock opened at $16.86 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $14.03 and its 200 day moving average is $14.09. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 1.43. Upwork has a 12 month low of $9.75 and a 12 month high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.56 million. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. Upwork’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Upwork announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.