Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 45.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 106,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87,450 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Upwork were worth $1,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Upwork during the 3rd quarter worth about $266,000. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 10.7% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 65,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 6,318 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Upwork during the third quarter valued at approximately $858,000. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Upwork by 16.1% in the third quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 540,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,643,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UPWK. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Upwork from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Upwork from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

Upwork Stock Down 3.9 %

Upwork stock opened at $15.10 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $17.79. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97 and a beta of 1.49. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.11.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $193.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.55 million. Upwork had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 22.84%. Upwork’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other news, CAO Olivier Marie sold 9,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,294 shares in the company, valued at $20,600.48. This represents a 87.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 20,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $196,406.45. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,570.45. This trade represents a 15.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 206,078 shares of company stock valued at $2,267,715. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.