Upwork’s (UPWK) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $17.00 price target on the stock.

UPWK has been the topic of several other research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Upwork from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on Upwork from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.09.

Upwork Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ UPWK opened at $16.89 on Friday. Upwork has a one year low of $8.43 and a one year high of $18.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 3.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81 and a beta of 1.59.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Upwork had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 22.84%. The company had revenue of $193.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other news, VP Dave Bottoms sold 10,508 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.86, for a total value of $166,656.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Olivier Marie sold 9,153 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.92, for a total value of $145,715.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,294 shares in the company, valued at $20,600.48. This trade represents a 87.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 213,590 shares of company stock worth $3,523,638 over the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 104.2% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Upwork by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Upwork by 71.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the second quarter worth $104,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

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.