Insider Selling: Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) VP Sells 1,543 Shares of Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) VP Dave Bottoms sold 1,543 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total value of $24,919.45. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,643.05. The trade was a 41.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Dave Bottoms also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 18th, Dave Bottoms sold 5,360 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total transaction of $91,709.60.

Upwork Price Performance

UPWK opened at $16.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.61. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.57. Upwork Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.43 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UPWK. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Upwork presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.91.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 71.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Upwork in the third quarter worth about $207,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Upwork by 121.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,535,000 after acquiring an additional 237,601 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 42,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 18,792 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Upwork by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 36,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 7,252 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% 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.