Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 59,000 Shares of Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 34.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 230,352 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,000 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Upwork were worth $4,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the second quarter worth about $5,118,000. Ruffer LLP bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,716,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the second quarter valued at approximately $619,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 80.6% in the second quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 251,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,377,000 after purchasing an additional 112,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 61.6% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 262,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,524,000 after purchasing an additional 99,941 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on UPWK. Zacks Research cut shares of Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Upwork from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Upwork Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $13.23 on Monday. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.13 and a 12-month high of $22.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, Director Gary Steele sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.51, for a total value of $218,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 85,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,608.79. The trade was a 12.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,044 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $186,215.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 246,701 shares in the company, valued at $5,079,573.59. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 522,687 shares of company stock worth $10,020,512. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Profile

Upwork Inc operates a leading online talent marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals worldwide. Through its digital platform, the company enables clients across industries—including technology, marketing, creative services and customer support—to source, hire and manage freelance talent on demand. Key features of the Upwork platform include streamlined job posting, proposal evaluation, time-tracking tools, invoicing and secure payment processing, all designed to simplify collaboration between clients and remote workers.

The company traces its roots to the merger of two pioneering freelance marketplaces, Elance (founded in 1998) and oDesk (founded in 2003), which combined in 2015 to form a unified entity.