Upwork’s (UPWK) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 46.37% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on UPWK. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.18.

Upwork Trading Up 5.5%

UPWK opened at $17.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.46. Upwork has a 1-year low of $11.13 and a 1-year high of $20.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 1.57.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $201.73 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. 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 EPS 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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total value of $199,879.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,886.20. This represents a 96.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 8,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $167,266.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 218,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,188,471.80. The trade was a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 111,982 shares of company stock valued at $2,144,222 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,258,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Upwork by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 68,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 5,068 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 747.7% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 297,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 262,840 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Upwork by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,721,000 after buying an additional 49,036 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Upwork by 3,492.8% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,877 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.