Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Receives $16.20 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.20.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Upwork from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, February 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total value of $292,300.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 798,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,832,390.92. The trade was a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.49, for a total transaction of $80,430.00. Following the completion of 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 53,080 shares of company stock worth $647,675 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Upwork by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,231,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,166,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,970 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Upwork by 785.7% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,322,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,356 shares during the period. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at $40,136,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Upwork in the third quarter valued at $24,782,000. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Upwork during the first quarter worth about $14,338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $8.66 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 1.07. Upwork has a 1 year low of $7.44 and a 1 year high of $22.84.

Upwork declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 18% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Upwork Company Profile

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.