Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Trading Down 7.1% – Here’s Why

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)’s stock price dropped 7.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $15.88 and last traded at $15.68. Approximately 145,309 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 1,831,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on UPWK. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.09.

Upwork Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.18.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $193.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.55 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 22.84% and a net margin of 11.26%. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CAO Olivier Marie sold 9,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.92, for a total value of $145,715.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,600.48. The trade was a 87.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.85, for a total value of $158,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,168,850 shares in the company, valued at $18,526,272.50. This trade represents a 0.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 213,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,750 over the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Upwork in the 4th quarter worth $97,000. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at about $544,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 13.9% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 226,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,366,000 after acquiring an additional 27,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork during the third quarter worth about $355,000. 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.