Piper Sandler Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by equities researchers at Piper Sandler in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $13.00. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.08% from the company’s previous close.

UPWK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Upwork from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Upwork from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Upwork from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.73.

Upwork Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $16.81 on Thursday. Upwork has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $17.59. The company has a quick ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 1.49.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. Upwork had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $193.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 20,353 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $196,406.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,570.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 31,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $304,032.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,190,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,488,913.65. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 20,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $196,406.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,570.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,783 shares of company stock valued at $1,800,221 over the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Upwork in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 104.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upwork during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Upwork by 45.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.