Assetmark Inc. Acquires New Stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. has acquired a new stake in Upwork Inc., purchasing 38,929 shares valued at approximately $508,000 in the first quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their holdings in Upwork, with Price T Rowe Associates Inc. boosting its position by 51.8% to own over 15 million shares valued at around $253 million.
• Despite some recent price target cuts from analysts, Upwork maintains a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $18.67.

Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 38,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Upwork by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,498,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,405,000 after acquiring an additional 5,289,493 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Upwork by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,303,035 shares of the company's stock worth $54,005,000 after buying an additional 1,534,078 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC increased its position in Upwork by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045,142 shares of the company's stock worth $49,788,000 after buying an additional 397,997 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Upwork by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,436,680 shares of the company's stock worth $39,840,000 after buying an additional 803,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Upwork by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,283,040 shares of the company's stock worth $37,328,000 after buying an additional 310,678 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPWK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. BTIG Research cut Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.67.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In related news, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.43, for a total transaction of $1,045,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 356,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,217,490.16. This represents a 14.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total value of $156,202.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at $126,250.95. The trade was a 55.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 545,454 shares of company stock valued at $9,172,963 in the last 90 days. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Upwork Stock Performance

NASDAQ UPWK opened at $11.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 3.41, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.42. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 48.38% and a net margin of 30.46%. The company had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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