Upwork Inc. $UPWK Shares Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. raised its position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,393 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,443 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Upwork were worth $196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 8.0% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Upwork by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Upwork by 415.9% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Upwork by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 74,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Upwork by 3,492.8% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 3,877 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Upwork and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.42.

Upwork Price Performance

Upwork stock opened at $15.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.11. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.13 and a 12-month high of $20.54. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.54.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. The business had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Upwork announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $208,729.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,359 shares in the company, valued at $198,478.44. This represents a 51.26% 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, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $263,458.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,895,355.68. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 222,576 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,318 over the last 90 days. 7.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.