Stock Repurchase Plan Declared by Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 3rd, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Upwork Stock Up 2.0%

Upwork stock opened at $16.78 on Friday. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $8.90 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. 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 has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.11.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. Upwork had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%.The business had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on UPWK shares. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.67.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 2,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total value of $28,510.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,164.40. The trade was a 50.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total value of $263,458.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,895,355.68. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,608 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,556 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.50% 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.