Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,202,816 Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 98.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,184 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,202,816 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Upwork were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings 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. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 2,744 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 23,090 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 178,202 shares of the company's stock worth $2,914,000 after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Finally, Nkcfo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other Upwork news, Director Thomas Layton sold 250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 $32,629,924.43. This trade represents a 11.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total value of $70,721.77. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,380.51. This trade represents a 36.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 566,868 shares of company stock worth $9,478,580. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company's stock.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of UPWK traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,654,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,251,261. Upwork Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.43 and a 1-year high of $18.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.29. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $188.49 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. The business's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPWK has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Roth Mkm reduced their price target 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, Wall Street Zen raised Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Four investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.