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

Key Points

• Insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,894 shares of Upwork stock on September 18 at an average price of $19.16, reducing his ownership by 51.26%.
• Upwork's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.35, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter.
• The company's Board of Directors authorized a $100 million stock buyback, indicating that management believes the stock is undervalued.

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,894 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $208,729.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,478.44. This trade represents a 51.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 stock was 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 stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $28,510.40.

Upwork Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,892,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,608,983. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.25. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.93 and a 12-month high of $20.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29 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.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. Upwork had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%.The firm had revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Upwork declared that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPWK. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Upwork by 364.5% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,351,406 shares of the company's stock worth $69,836,000 after buying an additional 4,199,244 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork during the first quarter worth $22,079,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Upwork by 200.0% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,237,616 shares of the company's stock worth $29,201,000 after buying an additional 1,491,701 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,660,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at $13,713,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on UPWK. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Friday, September 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Upwork from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.83.

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.