Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Director Sells $4,367,500.00 in Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Director Thomas Layton sold 250,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.47, for a total transaction of $4,367,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,867,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,629,924.43. The trade was a 11.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Upwork Stock Down 1.7%

Upwork stock opened at $17.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.52. Upwork Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.43 and a 1-year high of $18.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.18. 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 (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced 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. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. The company had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UPWK shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Upwork by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake 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. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 67,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after buying an additional 2,148 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 263,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,313,000 after buying an additional 2,636 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

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.