20,987 Shares in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Acquired by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in Upwork by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 92,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 107.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 2,236 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 39,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 4,077 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 264,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,000,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 57,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 5,956 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UPWK. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Upwork from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Upwork from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.55.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of UPWK stock opened at $11.56 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 165.17 and a beta of 1.67. Upwork Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.56 and a 1 year high of $16.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a current ratio of 3.01.

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

Insider Activity

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

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.