Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 4,194 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 299% compared to the average daily volume of 1,050 call options.

Upwork Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.63. The company had a trading volume of 3,114,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,305,210. Upwork has a 12 month low of $8.43 and a 12 month high of $18.14. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.00.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $192.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.49 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 48.38% and a net margin of 30.46%. The firm's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,716 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total transaction of $320,403.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,153,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,583,582.35. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 1,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.41, for a total value of $26,584.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 545,454 shares of company stock worth $9,172,963. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Upwork by 3,492.8% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,877 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Upwork by 1,235.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Upwork during the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Upwork during the first quarter worth about $130,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Upwork during the first quarter worth about $140,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research cut Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Upwork has a consensus 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.