Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upwork currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.36.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of UPWK stock opened at $16.05 on Monday. Upwork has a 52 week low of $8.43 and a 52 week high of $18.14. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.54.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Upwork had a return on equity of 22.84% and a net margin of 11.26%. The company had revenue of $193.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 4,279 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total value of $73,213.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 133,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,277,221.23. The trade was a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.37, for a total value of $1,302,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 48,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,653.55. This represents a 60.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 213,813 shares of company stock valued at $3,525,935. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP increased its position in Upwork by 32.9% in the second quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 3,320,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,700,000 after purchasing an additional 822,518 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its stake in Upwork by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 2,334,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,397,000 after purchasing an additional 260,274 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 389,006 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Upwork by 71.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,635,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,572,000 after acquiring an additional 679,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 1.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,011,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,570,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.