Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on UPWK. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upwork has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.67.

Upwork Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $19.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.43. Upwork has a 12-month low of $9.93 and a 12-month high of $20.41.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced 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. 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 analyst estimates of $187.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Upwork declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $825,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,093,485 shares in the company, valued at $15,046,353.60. This trade represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,894 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $208,729.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,478.44. The trade was a 51.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 222,576 shares of company stock worth $3,670,318 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Upwork by 12.8% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 115,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 13,044 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at $750,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake 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. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 843,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,996,000 after purchasing an additional 164,993 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 174.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 54,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 34,534 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% 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.