Citigroup Cuts Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target to $10.00

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $17.00 to $10.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 17.99% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $22.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Upwork from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

Upwork Trading Down 2.1%

UPWK traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $8.48. 1,285,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,981,829. Upwork has a 1-year low of $7.44 and a 1-year high of $22.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.52.

Upwork announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 18% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Upwork news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 7,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.49, for a total transaction of $80,430.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,770.22. The trade was a 72.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,278 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total value of $114,212.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 307,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,782,124.40. This trade represents a 2.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,080 shares of company stock worth $647,675. 7.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. Ruffer LLP acquired a new position in shares of Upwork during the third quarter valued at about $2,716,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the third quarter valued at $24,782,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Upwork by 93.6% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,862,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,580,000 after buying an additional 900,525 shares in the last quarter. Ancient Art L.P. grew its position in Upwork by 13.1% in the third quarter. Ancient Art L.P. now owns 4,268,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,269,000 after acquiring an additional 494,759 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Upwork during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,648,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Upwork

Upwork Inc operates a leading online talent marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals worldwide. Through its digital platform, the company enables clients across industries—including technology, marketing, creative services and customer support—to source, hire and manage freelance talent on demand. Key features of the Upwork platform include streamlined job posting, proposal evaluation, time-tracking tools, invoicing and secure payment processing, all designed to simplify collaboration between clients and remote workers.

The company traces its roots to the merger of two pioneering freelance marketplaces, Elance (founded in 1998) and oDesk (founded in 2003), which combined in 2015 to form a unified entity.