Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,194,223 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,779 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.89% of Upwork worth $19,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Upwork by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,498,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,405,000 after buying an additional 5,289,493 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Upwork by 1,674.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,748,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649,766 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Upwork by 86.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,303,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,005,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,078 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Upwork during the fourth quarter worth about $18,838,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $33,438,000 after purchasing an additional 843,115 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total value of $70,721.77. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,380.51. This trade represents a 36.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 40,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.92, for a total transaction of $636,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,183,741 shares in the company, valued at $18,845,156.72. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 233,108 shares of company stock valued at $3,683,448. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UPWK. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. BTIG Research downgraded Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.50.

Upwork Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $17.50 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $13.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.13. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.43 and a 12-month high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $192.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.49 million. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. Upwork’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

About Upwork

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.