BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 251,714 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,104 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.19% of Upwork worth $2,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Upwork by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 0.6% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 318,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,426,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 3.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 66,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 2,063 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Upwork by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,129 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Upwork by 104.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upwork Price Performance

UPWK stock opened at $16.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 3.18, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.59 and a 200-day moving average of $11.58. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.43 and a 12-month high of $17.79.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on UPWK. UBS Group boosted their target price on Upwork from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,181,221 shares in the company, valued at $20,080,757. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Olivier Marie sold 9,153 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,600.48. This represents a 87.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 214,808 shares of company stock worth $2,756,163. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.