Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 67.22% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on UPWK. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Upwork from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. BTIG Research upgraded Upwork from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Upwork from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.82.

Upwork Stock Up 2.2 %

Upwork stock opened at $11.96 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 170.88 and a beta of 1.66. Upwork has a 1-year low of $6.56 and a 1-year high of $16.36. 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 (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $183.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.43 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 6.80%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total transaction of $241,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,831,978.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 67,531 shares of company stock valued at $851,894. 9.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Upwork by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in Upwork by 1.0% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 92,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Upwork by 107.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 2,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 2,457 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Upwork

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.