Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 161,661 Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,951,630 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 161,661 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.46% of Upwork worth $31,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UPWK. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in Upwork in the 4th quarter worth about $544,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 23,090 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPWK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BTIG Research lowered Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $70,721.77. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,593 shares in the company, valued at $125,380.51. This trade represents a 36.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 21,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total value of $341,120.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,275,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,592,590.45. This represents 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 in the last three months. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of UPWK stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.88. 1,711,703 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,236,679. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $18.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a current ratio of 3.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $13.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 1.52.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $188.49 million. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. Upwork's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share 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.