Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $812,000 in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 49,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $812,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Straightline Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter worth $534,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 843,115 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 1,649,766 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Upwork by 20,322.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 79,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 79,459 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 3,543 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPWK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Upwork from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Upwork has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other Upwork news, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.58, for a total value of $1,318,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,299 shares in the company, valued at $286,536.42. This represents a 82.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 21,122 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total transaction of $341,120.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,275,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,592,590.45. The trade was a 1.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 193,108 shares of company stock valued at $3,046,648 over the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Upwork Trading Up 18.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $15.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $13.31 and a 200 day moving average of $14.95. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.52. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.43 and a 12-month high of $18.14. 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 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 business had revenue of $192.71 million during 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%. The company's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Upwork 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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