Trexquant Investment LP Sells 304,765 Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 536,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 304,765 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Upwork were worth $8,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Upwork by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,075,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,592,000 after purchasing an additional 64,438 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Upwork by 3,932.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 772,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,632,000 after buying an additional 753,447 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Upwork by 2,216.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 503,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,263,000 after buying an additional 481,942 shares during the last quarter. Tenzing Global Management LLC lifted its holdings in Upwork by 20.0% in the third quarter. Tenzing Global Management LLC now owns 450,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,702,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Upwork by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 413,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,757,000 after acquiring an additional 35,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of Upwork stock opened at $12.53 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.43 and a 52 week high of $18.14. The company has a quick ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $14.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.51. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 1.61.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. Equities analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Upwork from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.58.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In related news, Director Elizabeth A. Nelson sold 75,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $286,536.42. This trade represents a 82.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 5,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total value of $70,721.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,380.51. This trade represents a 36.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 193,365 shares of company stock valued at $3,050,760 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.