Upwork Inc. $UPWK Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC decreased its stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 34.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,866 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Upwork were worth $72,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UPWK. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at about $812,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 67,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,194,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,526,000 after purchasing an additional 60,779 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 385.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 232,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,795,000 after purchasing an additional 184,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total transaction of $156,202.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,250.95. This trade represents a 55.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $263,458.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,895,355.68. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,922 shares of company stock valued at $2,238,460. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPWK has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Friday, May 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.67.

Upwork Stock Performance

UPWK stock opened at $16.45 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.11. Upwork Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.90 and a 52 week high of $18.14.

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

Upwork declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, September 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.