Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target Raised to $21.00 at Royal Bank Of Canada

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $18.00 to $21.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.03% from the company’s previous close.

UPWK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $17.00 price objective on Upwork and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.75.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK traded up $1.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.93. 5,103,999 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,587,519. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.16. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.57. Upwork has a twelve month low of $11.13 and a twelve month high of $20.54.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of ($387.62) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.33 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Upwork declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $825,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,093,485 shares in the company, valued at $15,046,353.60. This represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $263,458.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 209,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,895,355.68. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 222,576 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,318. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new position in shares of Upwork during the third quarter worth $268,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Upwork by 94.2% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 50,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 24,413 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP acquired a new position in Upwork in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,716,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Upwork by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 105,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Upwork by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 69,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.