Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Shares Down 7.1% – Should You Sell?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Upwork from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Upwork from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.09.

Upwork Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 3.18.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Upwork had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 22.84%. The company had revenue of $193.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 4,279 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total transaction of $73,213.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 133,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,277,221.23. The trade was a 3.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Dave Bottoms sold 10,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.86, for a total value of $166,656.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 213,590 shares of company stock valued at $3,523,638 in the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 45.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Upwork by 3.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 66,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,063 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Upwork by 18.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in Upwork by 71.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. 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.