Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on UPWK. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Upwork from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Upwork from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.91.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of Upwork stock opened at $22.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.21. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $11.13 and a fifty-two week high of $22.32.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,044 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 246,701 shares in the company, valued at $5,079,573.59. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,147 shares of the business’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 $476,596.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 721,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,848,643.22. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 523,248 shares of company stock worth $10,029,741 in the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UPWK. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Upwork by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 24,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 0.4% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 264,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Straightline Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 3.1% in the third quarter. Straightline Group LLC now owns 38,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 594.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in Upwork by 998.4% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Upwork

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.