Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Receives Market Outperform Rating from JMP Securities

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at JMP Securities in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $18.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.37% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.09.

Upwork Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $16.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.87 and a beta of 1.59. Upwork has a 52-week low of $8.43 and a 52-week high of $18.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.12. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $193.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In related news, VP Dave Bottoms sold 5,360 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total transaction of $91,709.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,974.62. The trade was a 35.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.37, for a total value of $1,302,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 48,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,653.55. This represents a 60.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 213,847 shares of company stock worth $3,527,750 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of UPWK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Upwork by 27.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,806,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,424,000 after acquiring an additional 389,006 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Upwork by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 289,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 65,480 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Upwork by 49.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 33,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 11,035 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Upwork by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 66,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 2,063 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in Upwork by 322.9% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 199,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,149,000 after buying an additional 152,668 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

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.