Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys Shares of 2,200 Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $330,000. Shaker Investments LLC OH raised its stake in Upwork by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 117,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after purchasing an additional 51,931 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $19,082,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $312,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Upwork Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $11.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 165.17 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.28 and its 200-day moving average is $13.16. Upwork Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.56 and a 52-week 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $183.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.43 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 6.80%. Equities research 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total value of $241,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,831,978.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,531 shares of company stock valued at $851,894. 9.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.55.

Upwork 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.