MetLife Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,058 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Upwork were worth $977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Upwork by 3.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Upwork by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,194,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,526,000 after buying an additional 60,779 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Upwork by 385.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 232,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,795,000 after buying an additional 184,289 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,211,000. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Upwork by 281.0% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 184,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after buying an additional 135,795 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on UPWK shares. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. 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. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.67.

Upwork Stock Performance

NASDAQ UPWK opened at $16.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.43. Upwork Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.90 and a 1-year high of $18.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.11.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.56 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%.The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Upwork declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Olivier Marie sold 1,879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.50, for a total transaction of $25,366.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,532. The trade was a 28.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total value of $156,202.62. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,345 shares in the company, valued at $126,250.95. This trade represents a 55.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,608 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,556. Insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

About Upwork

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.