Upwork Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 4,194 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 299% compared to the average daily volume of 1,050 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Upwork in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CAO Olivier Marie sold 1,879 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.50, for a total transaction of $25,366.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,532. The trade was a 28.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total value of $125,197.17. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 190,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,576,870.38. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 545,454 shares of company stock worth $9,172,963 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Upwork by 3,492.8% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 3,877 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 1,235.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 1st quarter worth approximately $130,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $140,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Upwork Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of UPWK stock opened at $13.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50 day moving average is $14.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.02. Upwork has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.49 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 48.38% and a net margin of 30.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Upwork will post 0.84 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.