Brokerages Set Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) PT at $18.58

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.58.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Upwork from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 9,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $118,610.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,223,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,294.87. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.58, for a total value of $1,318,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,536.42. The trade was a 82.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 193,365 shares of company stock worth $3,050,760. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in Upwork by 42.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851 shares during the last quarter. Nkcfo LLC purchased a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Upwork during the fourth quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at $97,000. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of UPWK opened at $13.57 on Monday. Upwork has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $18.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $15.39 and a 200 day moving average of $14.33. The company has a quick ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.