First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 204,596 Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 522.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,767 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 204,596 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.18% of Upwork worth $3,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nkcfo LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at $84,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter worth $97,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in Upwork by 39.6% during 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. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Upwork in the 4th quarter worth about $191,000. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Upwork from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 82.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $70,721.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $125,380.51. This represents a 36.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 193,108 shares of company stock worth $3,046,648 over the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Upwork Price Performance

UPWK stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $13.32. 3,060,141 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,205,287. Upwork Inc. has a one year low of $8.43 and a one year high of $18.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 1.52.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. Equities analysts expect 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.