Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Takes $1.21 Million Position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 74,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,211,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.06% of Upwork at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nkcfo LLC acquired a new position in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Upwork by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $180,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 13,765 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total transaction of $222,304.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 156,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,532,772.20. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Layton sold 250,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.47, for a total value of $4,367,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,867,769 shares in the company, valued at $32,629,924.43. This represents a 11.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 676,104 shares of company stock valued at $11,349,140 over the last three months. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company's stock.

Upwork Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of Upwork stock traded down $0.69 on Monday, reaching $16.55. 2,542,203 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,259,151. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82 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 fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $192.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.49 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. Upwork's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on UPWK shares. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank started coverage on Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.67.

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.