Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Insider Dave Bottoms Sells 10,894 Shares

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $208,729.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,359 shares in the company, valued at $198,478.44. This represents a 51.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Dave Bottoms also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, September 19th, Dave Bottoms sold 10,014 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total transaction of $199,879.44.
• On Monday, August 18th, Dave Bottoms sold 2,060 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $28,510.40.

Upwork Stock Down 3.7%

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $19.33 on Tuesday. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.93 and a fifty-two week high of $20.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.25.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. The business had revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.56 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upwork announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Monday, June 2nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,534,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,169 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,660,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,476 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,861,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,458,000 after purchasing an additional 231,103 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,237,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491,701 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork during the 1st quarter worth approximately $22,079,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

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.