Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $20.00 price target on the stock.

UPWK has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Upwork from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BTIG Research raised Upwork from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Upwork from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $16.55.

Upwork Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $12.89. The stock had a trading volume of 2,468,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,033,711. The business’s 50 day moving average is $12.19 and its 200-day moving average is $13.18. Upwork has a 52 week low of $6.56 and a 52 week high of $16.36. The company has a quick ratio of 3.01, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.83 and a beta of 1.66.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Upwork had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 6.70%. The business had revenue of $183.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.43 million. As a group, analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total value of $241,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,980 shares in the company, valued at $13,831,978.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 67,531 shares of company stock valued at $851,894 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,565,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,461,000 after purchasing an additional 702,595 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Upwork by 4.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,864,000 after buying an additional 43,081 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 143.1% during the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 115,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 68,124 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Upwork by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 182,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 67,308 shares during the period. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 129,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 60,385 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently 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.