Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Rating Reiterated by Needham & Company LLC

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 67.22% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BTIG Research upgraded Upwork from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.82.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $11.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 170.88 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 3.01 and a quick ratio of 3.01. Upwork has a 12 month low of $6.56 and a 12 month high of $16.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.17.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $183.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.43 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 6.80%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total transaction of $241,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,831,978.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 67,531 shares of company stock worth $851,894. Insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Upwork during the 1st quarter worth $152,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the first quarter worth about $355,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 9.7% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 83,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 7,332 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shaker Investments LLC OH boosted its stake in Upwork by 65.0% during the 1st quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 194,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 76,560 shares during the period. 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.