Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,729 shares of the company’s stock after selling 934 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Upwork were worth $175,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Nkcfo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Upwork by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 178,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its position in Upwork by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 65,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 23,090 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Upwork by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,899 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $14.17 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $15.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.05. The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. On average, analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.84, for a total transaction of $336,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,229,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,703,432.80. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Dave Bottoms sold 5,360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total value of $91,709.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,642 shares in the company, valued at $164,974.62. This represents a 35.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 228,187 shares of company stock valued at $3,917,213 over the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPWK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Upwork from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.91.

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.