BTIG Research Downgrades Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) to Neutral

BTIG Research cut shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Upwork from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their price target on Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.58.

Upwork Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $11.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a current ratio of 3.39. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.60.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $70,721.77. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,593 shares in the company, valued at $125,380.51. The trade was a 36.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 9,075 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,223,741 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,294.87. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 193,365 shares of company stock worth $3,050,760 in the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,498,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,289,493 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Upwork by 1,674.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,748,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,766 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Upwork by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,303,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,005,000 after buying an additional 1,534,078 shares during the last quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at $24,633,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $18,838,000. 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.