Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 33.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC’s holdings in Upwork were worth $134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 8.0% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 0.4% during the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 264,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its position in Upwork by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 14,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Upwork by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 415.9% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In related news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 8,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $167,266.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 218,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,188,471.80. This represents a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,014 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total value of $199,879.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,886.20. This represents a 96.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 221,282 shares of company stock worth $3,652,202. Insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPWK has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up previously from $16.00) on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upwork presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $17.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.35. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.13 and a fifty-two week high of $20.54.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). Upwork had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 31.63%.The company had revenue of ($387.62) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Upwork has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Upwork announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.