Quest Partners LLC Buys 9,550 Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 69.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,310 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,550 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Upwork were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 542.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 53,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $797,000 after purchasing an additional 45,077 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 977,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,529,000 after purchasing an additional 20,703 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Upwork in the 4th quarter worth about $771,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Upwork by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 526,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,836,000 after acquiring an additional 288,330 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In related news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 4,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.22, for a total transaction of $46,368.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,496.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 31,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $304,032.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,190,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,488,913.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 4,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.22, for a total value of $46,368.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,496.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,462 shares of company stock worth $707,130 in the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Upwork Trading Up 10.0 %

Shares of UPWK stock opened at $10.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26 and a beta of 1.54. Upwork Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.43 and a 1-year high of $16.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $10.37 and a 200 day moving average of $11.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 3.00.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on Upwork from $19.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Upwork from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Upwork from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.70.

Upwork Company 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.