Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target Raised to $25.00

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its target price lifted by Needham & Company LLC from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on UPWK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $21.00 price target on shares of Upwork and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Upwork Trading Down 1.4%

UPWK opened at $16.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.15 and a 200 day moving average of $15.21. Upwork has a 12 month low of $11.13 and a 12 month high of $20.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 1.57.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted 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 during 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%. Upwork’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 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 forecast that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $263,458.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,895,355.68. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $208,729.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,478.44. The trade was a 51.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 222,576 shares of company stock worth $3,670,318 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upwork in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in Upwork by 415.9% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 19,361.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,485 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 3,492.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 3,877 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

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.