Graham Capital Management L.P. Acquires Shares of 47,460 Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 47,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $776,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UPWK. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at $544,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in Upwork by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Upwork by 19.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Upwork by 54.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other Upwork news, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.58, for a total value of $1,318,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,536.42. The trade was a 82.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.09, for a total value of $341,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,163,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,888,333.69. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 313,108 shares of company stock worth $5,071,048. 7.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Upwork Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ UPWK opened at $17.39 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Upwork Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.43 and a 12 month high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.49 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UPWK shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BTIG Research downgraded Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Upwork from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

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.