Jump Financial LLC Grows Stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 82.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,802 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,225 shares during the quarter. Jump Financial LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Upwork worth $2,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UPWK. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter worth about $544,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Upwork by 228.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 211,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,211,000 after acquiring an additional 147,059 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at about $419,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Upwork by 1.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 37.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 93,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 25,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on UPWK shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Upwork from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other Upwork news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total value of $70,721.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,593 shares in the company, valued at $125,380.51. This represents a 36.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 21,122 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total transaction of $341,120.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,275,083 shares in the company, valued at $20,592,590.45. This represents a 1.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 193,365 shares of company stock valued at $3,050,760 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of UPWK opened at $12.74 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $18.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.67.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS 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, equities research analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

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.