Citizens Jmp Reaffirms “Market Outperform” Rating for Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating restated by research analysts at Citizens Jmp in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp’s price target suggests a potential upside of 50.76% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on UPWK. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (up previously from $19.00) on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.92.

Upwork Price Performance

Upwork stock traded up $0.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.91. The company had a trading volume of 368,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,651,401. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 1.57. Upwork has a 1 year low of $11.13 and a 1 year high of $20.54.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $201.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.33 million. Upwork had a net margin of 31.63% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upwork announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,894 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $208,729.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,359 shares in the company, valued at $198,478.44. This represents a 51.26% 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 8,730 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $167,266.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 218,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,188,471.80. This represents a 3.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 111,982 shares of company stock valued at $2,144,222 in the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Upwork during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,258,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Upwork by 8.0% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 68,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 747.7% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 297,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,889,000 after acquiring an additional 262,840 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after acquiring an additional 49,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 3,492.8% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 3,877 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

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.