Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

UPWK has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Upwork from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upwork has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.91.

Upwork Trading Down 8.5%

NASDAQ UPWK opened at $18.25 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $20.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.59. Upwork has a 1 year low of $11.13 and a 1 year high of $22.84.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). Upwork had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 31.63%.The firm had revenue of $201.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 18,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total value of $308,833.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 237,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,968,120.40. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 275,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.43, for a total transaction of $5,343,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 697,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,560,080.42. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 523,248 shares of company stock valued at $10,029,741 in the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 785.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,322,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,962,000 after buying an additional 2,060,356 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $24,782,000. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Upwork by 22.1% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,534,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,825,000 after buying an additional 1,183,169 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 93.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,862,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,580,000 after buying an additional 900,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,955,000. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

About Upwork

Upwork Inc operates a leading online talent marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals worldwide. Through its digital platform, the company enables clients across industries—including technology, marketing, creative services and customer support—to source, hire and manage freelance talent on demand. Key features of the Upwork platform include streamlined job posting, proposal evaluation, time-tracking tools, invoicing and secure payment processing, all designed to simplify collaboration between clients and remote workers.

The company traces its roots to the merger of two pioneering freelance marketplaces, Elance (founded in 1998) and oDesk (founded in 2003), which combined in 2015 to form a unified entity.