Brokerages Set Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target at $15.50

Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

A number of research firms have weighed in on UPWK. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective 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 shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Upwork from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Roth Mkm cut shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other Upwork news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total value of $142,488.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,136.18. This represents a 54.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,278 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total transaction of $114,212.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 307,240 shares in the company, valued at $3,782,124.40. The trade was a 2.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 53,080 shares of company stock valued at $647,675 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UPWK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,231,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,166,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,970 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 785.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,322,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,356 shares during the last quarter. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the fourth quarter worth about $40,136,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the third quarter worth about $24,782,000. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the first quarter worth about $14,338,000. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $8.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.54. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 1.01. Upwork has a 12-month low of $7.44 and a 12-month high of $22.84.

Upwork declared that its board 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 purchase up to 18% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Upwork

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.