Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Stock Price Up 8.8% – Time to Buy?

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)’s share price was up 8.8% during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $9.87 and last traded at $9.9550. Approximately 1,358,614 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 3,520,547 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $11.50 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.05.

Upwork Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 1.03.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Upwork had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $191.66 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Upwork has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, COO Anthony Kappus sold 45,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.45, for a total transaction of $386,435.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 76,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $645,089.90. This represents a 37.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 22,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.43, for a total transaction of $192,574.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 364,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,171.27. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,868 shares of company stock worth $1,509,462. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 434.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Upwork by 43.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Upwork by 40.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Upwork by 123.0% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 4,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in Upwork in the second quarter worth about $89,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upwork Company Profile

Upwork Inc operates a global work marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals and agencies. Clients use the platform to find, evaluate, hire and manage talent for projects across areas such as software development, design, marketing, writing, consulting, customer support and administrative services.

The company provides tools for talent discovery, project collaboration, communications, time tracking, contract management and payments. Its offerings serve both individual clients and larger organizations, with features designed to support recurring engagements, contingent-work programs and enterprise talent management.

Upwork was formed in 2015 through the merger of Elance and oDesk, two online freelance-work platforms, and began trading publicly on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2018.