Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $22.84 and last traded at $22.3190, with a volume of 214776 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Upwork from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Upwork from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.91.

Upwork Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.24 and its 200-day moving average is $17.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.01.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $201.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.33 million. Upwork had a net margin of 31.63% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Upwork has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 275,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.43, for a total value of $5,343,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 697,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,560,080.42. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total value of $232,358.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $205,220.53. This trade represents a 53.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 523,248 shares of company stock worth $10,029,741. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,060,356 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Upwork during the third quarter worth about $24,782,000. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Upwork by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,534,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,169 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Upwork by 93.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,862,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,580,000 after acquiring an additional 900,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Upwork in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,955,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

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.