Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Given New $19.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.34% from the company’s previous close.

UPWK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.27.

Upwork Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ UPWK opened at $15.53 on Thursday. Upwork has a 12-month low of $8.43 and a 12-month high of $18.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.18, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65 and a beta of 1.57.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a return on equity of 22.84% and a net margin of 11.26%. On average, analysts forecast that Upwork will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 30,672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.13, for a total transaction of $464,067.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,196,221 shares in the company, valued at $18,098,823.73. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.13, for a total value of $299,816.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 128,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,950,847.07. This represents a 13.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,186 shares of company stock valued at $3,056,877 over the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the third quarter valued at approximately $858,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Upwork by 133.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 66,842 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Upwork by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 251,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after buying an additional 73,104 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the third quarter worth $8,369,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Upwork by 2,216.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 503,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,263,000 after acquiring an additional 481,942 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.