Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 123,100 Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 123,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,013,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned about 0.09% of Upwork as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nkcfo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at about $97,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at about $180,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.58, for a total transaction of $1,318,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $286,536.42. This represents a 82.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Layton sold 250,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 638,593 shares of company stock valued at $10,743,337. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,845,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,259,490. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.25. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPWK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BTIG Research cut Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.67.

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.