Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target to $15.00

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

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Upwork from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Upwork from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Upwork from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three equities 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $17.30.

Upwork Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $12.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.83 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Upwork has a 12-month low of $6.56 and a 12-month high of $16.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.19.

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

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total value of $241,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,980 shares in the company, valued at $13,831,978.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 67,531 shares of company stock worth $851,894 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 5.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,565,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,461,000 after purchasing an additional 702,595 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Upwork by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,864,000 after purchasing an additional 43,081 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Upwork by 143.1% during the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 115,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 68,124 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Upwork by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 182,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 67,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Upwork by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 129,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 60,385 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.