Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target Cut to $15.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its price objective cut by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $18.00 to $15.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.67% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on UPWK. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. BTIG Research upgraded Upwork from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.55.

Upwork Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of Upwork stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Thursday, hitting $12.64. 1,918,897 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,990,966. The firm has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 183.74 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Upwork has a 52-week low of $6.56 and a 52-week high of $16.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.17.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $183.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.43 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 6.80%. On average, equities analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total transaction of $241,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,831,978.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 67,531 shares of company stock valued at $851,894 in the last three months. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 107.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236 shares during the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the first quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the third quarter valued at approximately $135,000. Hedge funds and other 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.