Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target Lowered to $23.00 at UBS Group

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its price objective cut by UBS Group from $26.00 to $23.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $22.00 target price on Upwork in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Upwork from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Upwork Trading Down 19.1%

Shares of Upwork stock opened at $15.20 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.73. Upwork has a 1-year low of $11.13 and a 1-year high of $22.84. The company has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10 and a beta of 1.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 9,622 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $198,790.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 345 shares in the company, valued at $7,127.70. This represents a 96.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $186,215.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 246,701 shares in the company, valued at $5,079,573.59. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 523,248 shares of company stock valued at $10,029,741. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Upwork by 5,280.0% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Upwork by 594.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Upwork by 998.4% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Upwork by 2,405.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 379.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Upwork

Here are the key news stories impacting Upwork this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record full‑year revenue and strong profitability — Upwork reported record 2025 revenue of $787.8M, robust adjusted EBITDA (29% margin) and GAAP net income, underscoring solid cash generation and operating leverage that support valuation upside. GlobeNewswire — Q4 & FY Results
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 revenue roughly in line and some beat on metrics — several outlets note Q4 revenue (~$198.4M) was close to consensus and some metrics/earnings beats were reported, supporting the view that the core business remains profitable. MarketBeat — Q4 Snapshot
• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven marketplace growth — Upwork highlighted AI-related gross services volume (GSV) growth (management noted strong AI adoption), positioning the platform to capture new workload even as AI reshapes demand. Analysts and bulls cite this as a long‑term tailwind. Yahoo — Q4 Deep Dive
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reactions mixed but many remain constructive — several firms reaffirm or maintain buy ratings with mid‑$20s targets (Needham, UBS still “buy” despite trimming targets), while some desks trimmed near‑term targets. This leaves a wide range of views for investors to weigh. Benzinga — Analyst Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Disappointing near‑term guidance drove the selloff — management gave Q1 2026 revenue and EPS guidance below consensus (Q1 revenue ~$192–197M vs. ~$201M est.; Q1 EPS guidance below consensus), which triggered a steep after‑hours decline as investors reprice near‑term growth. Yahoo — Why UPWK Is Down
• Negative Sentiment: After‑hours plunge and heavy selling — multiple outlets reported a ~20–23% after‑hours drop and elevated volume as traders reacted to guidance and mixed quarter details. That momentum amplified intraday weakness. MSN — After‑hours Plunge
• Negative Sentiment: Signs of demand softness — active clients fell (~6% reported by some transcripts/analyst notes) and some outlets flagged EPS/revenue misses on certain metrics, increasing concern that AI may be displacing some freelancer demand in the near term. Seeking Alpha — Rating Upgrade/Notes
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst trims and insider selling add pressure — a few firms cut price targets (UBS trimmed to $23; Scotiabank cut to $15) and public insider sales were highlighted in coverage, which can weigh on sentiment. Benzinga — Price Target Notes

Upwork Company Profile

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.