Sei Investments Co. Acquires 65,480 Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 29.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 289,372 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 65,480 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.22% of Upwork worth $3,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Upwork during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Upwork during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Upwork in the first quarter worth $49,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Upwork during the second quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Upwork by 56.2% during the first quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 4,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on UPWK. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Upwork from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Upwork from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Upwork from $20.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered their target price on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.27.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of UPWK opened at $10.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a current ratio of 3.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.96. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $16.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 1.54.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $193.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.05 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 20,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 9,444 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.57, for a total value of $99,823.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,178,850 shares in the company, valued at $12,460,444.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 20,353 shares of the business’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 owns 107,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,570.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 176,785 shares of company stock worth $1,800,489. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.