Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,910 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,248 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Upwork were worth $354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 239.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,252,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,491,000 after buying an additional 1,589,693 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter worth $11,486,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Upwork by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,996,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,115,000 after purchasing an additional 770,088 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Upwork by 132.5% during the 1st quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 964,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,826,000 after purchasing an additional 549,733 shares during the period. Finally, Circumference Group LLC purchased a new position in Upwork during the 4th quarter worth $4,089,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Price Performance

UPWK opened at $10.56 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a current ratio of 3.00. Upwork Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.43 and a 1 year high of $16.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 1.54.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. Upwork had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The business had revenue of $193.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.05 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on UPWK. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Upwork from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Upwork from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.70.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 4,491 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.57, for a total transaction of $47,469.87. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 111,255 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,965.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 31,506 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total transaction of $304,032.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,190,561 shares in the company, valued at $11,488,913.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 4,491 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.57, for a total transaction of $47,469.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 111,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,965.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 176,785 shares of company stock worth $1,800,489. Company insiders own 7.60% 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.