Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank of Canada Analyst Says

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 11.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.91.

Upwork Price Performance

UPWK opened at $16.14 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Upwork has a 52-week low of $8.43 and a 52-week high of $18.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.46. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62 and a beta of 1.57.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 22.84%. On average, analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.13, for a total transaction of $299,816.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 128,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,950,847.07. This represents a 13.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.37, for a total transaction of $1,302,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 48,915 shares in the company, valued at $849,653.55. This trade represents a 60.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 183,203 shares of company stock valued at $3,042,191. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UPWK. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Upwork by 45.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Upwork by 42.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Upwork by 18.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,129 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Upwork by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 67,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Upwork by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 178,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,387 shares in the last quarter. 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.