Verition Fund Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 800,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,369,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 104.2% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Upwork by 45.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Upwork during the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 9,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.57, for a total value of $99,823.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,178,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,460,444.50. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Olivier Marie sold 9,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.92, for a total value of $145,715.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,294 shares in the company, valued at $20,600.48. This represents a 87.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 199,808 shares of company stock valued at $2,501,163 in the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UPWK. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Upwork from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Upwork from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.73.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of UPWK stock opened at $16.97 on Monday. Upwork Inc. has a one year low of $8.43 and a one year high of $17.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94 and a beta of 1.49.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $193.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.55 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 22.84% and a net margin of 11.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

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.