Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on UPWK. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Upwork from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Upwork from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.91.

Upwork Trading Down 8.5%

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

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $201.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.33 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 31.63%.Upwork’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $476,596.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 721,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,848,643.22. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Steele sold 12,500 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.51, for a total value of $218,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 85,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,608.79. The trade was a 12.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 523,248 shares of company stock valued at $10,029,741. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Upwork in the second quarter valued at $5,118,000. Ruffer LLP purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,716,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the 2nd quarter valued at about $619,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its position in shares of Upwork by 80.6% during the 2nd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 251,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,377,000 after purchasing an additional 112,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC now owns 463,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,235,000 after buying an additional 98,811 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.