Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Price Target Raised to $18.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.46% from the company’s previous close.

UPWK has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.91.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK traded up $0.77 during trading on Thursday, hitting $16.30. 2,394,929 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,396,566. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88 and a beta of 1.57. Upwork has a 1-year low of $8.43 and a 1-year high of $18.14.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 30,672 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.13, for a total value of $464,067.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,196,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,098,823.73. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Dave Bottoms sold 5,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total transaction of $91,709.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,974.62. The trade was a 35.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 184,186 shares of company stock worth $3,056,877. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Upwork by 1,674.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,748,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649,766 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 70.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,045,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,438,000 after purchasing an additional 843,115 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Upwork during the third quarter worth $8,369,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Upwork by 3,932.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 772,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,632,000 after purchasing an additional 753,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Upwork by 2,216.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 503,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,263,000 after purchasing an additional 481,942 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.