Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Given New $25.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its price target lifted by Needham & Company LLC from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 28th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up previously from $16.00) on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upwork has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

Upwork Stock Up 13.2%

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $17.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.36. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $11.13 and a fifty-two week high of $20.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.20.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of ($387.62) million for 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 41.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Upwork has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS. Analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upwork declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $263,458.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,202 shares in the company, valued at $2,895,355.68. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $825,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,093,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,046,353.60. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 222,576 shares of company stock worth $3,670,318 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPWK. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 8.0% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 0.4% during the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 264,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,559,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Straightline Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 3.2% during the second quarter. Straightline Group LLC now owns 37,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 11.1% during the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 14,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 5.7% during the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Upwork Company Profile

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.