Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $3.80 Million Stock Holdings in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 385.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,128 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 184,289 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.17% of Upwork worth $3,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Upwork by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,498,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,289,493 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,303,035 shares of the company's stock worth $54,005,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,078 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,045,115 shares of the company's stock worth $33,438,000 after acquiring an additional 843,115 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,951,630 shares of the company's stock worth $31,911,000 after acquiring an additional 161,661 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 1,674.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,748,320 shares of the company's stock worth $28,585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649,766 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas Layton sold 250,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,867,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,629,924.43. This represents a 11.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total value of $70,721.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $125,380.51. The trade was a 36.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 566,868 shares of company stock worth $9,478,580. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPWK has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research downgraded Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank started coverage on Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.67.

Upwork Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Upwork stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,682,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,249,685. Upwork Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.43 and a 12 month high of $18.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.25 and a 200 day moving average of $15.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. The company had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict 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.