Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target Cut to $15.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its target price trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $18.00 to $15.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on UPWK. Jefferies Financial Group raised Upwork from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday. BTIG Research upgraded Upwork from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upwork presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $16.55.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of UPWK traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $12.89. The stock had a trading volume of 2,468,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,033,711. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.83 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a current ratio of 2.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.19 and a 200 day moving average of $13.18. Upwork has a 12 month low of $6.56 and a 12 month high of $16.36.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Upwork had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $183.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.43 million. Equities analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 43,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.86, for a total transaction of $562,162.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,165,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,994,502.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,531 shares of company stock valued at $851,894. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Upwork by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,226,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,414,000 after buying an additional 660,966 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Upwork by 2,216.0% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,893,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,231,000 after acquiring an additional 3,725,442 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Upwork by 239.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,252,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,693 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork during the third quarter worth $16,987,000. Finally, Mak Capital One LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork during the 3rd quarter valued at $15,528,000. 77.71% of the stock is 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.