Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target Raised to $21.00

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the stock.

UPWK has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 28th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price target (up previously from $16.00) on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities upped their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $16.15 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.21. Upwork has a 1 year low of $11.13 and a 1 year high of $20.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 1.57.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of ($387.62) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.33 million. Upwork had a net margin of 31.63% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Upwork has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upwork declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,082,358 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,160. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 8,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $167,266.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 218,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,188,471.80. The trade was a 3.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 222,576 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,318. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 364.5% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,351,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,836,000 after buying an additional 4,199,244 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,079,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 200.0% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,237,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491,701 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 41.1% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,660,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,820,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Upwork during the first quarter worth $13,713,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Upwork

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.