Cerity Partners LLC Takes Position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 123,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,000. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Upwork as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Upwork during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Upwork by 104.2% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Upwork by 45.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the second quarter worth approximately $54,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,181,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,080,757. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Dave Bottoms sold 5,626 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.57, for a total value of $59,466.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,621.72. This trade represents a 27.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 214,808 shares of company stock worth $2,756,163. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Upwork Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $17.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60 and a beta of 1.58. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $17.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.42.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $193.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.55 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 22.84% and a net margin of 11.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on UPWK. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Upwork from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Upwork from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.73.

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.