Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank Of Canada Analyst Says

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on UPWK. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities lifted their price objective 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, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Upwork from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.75.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of UPWK stock traded up $1.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,103,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,587,519. Upwork has a 1-year low of $11.13 and a 1-year high of $20.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.36. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $17.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.16.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). The company 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 was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $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, research analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $825,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,093,485 shares in the company, valued at $15,046,353.60. This trade represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 222,576 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,318 in the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 4,199,244 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork in the first quarter valued at $22,079,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Upwork by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,237,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491,701 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Upwork by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,660,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at about $13,713,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.