Allianz Asset Management GmbH Lowers Stock Position in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Allianz Asset Management GmbH trimmed its position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 57.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 961,628 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,275,988 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.73% of Upwork worth $12,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Upwork by 1,235.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in Upwork in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,854,000. Finally, 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 buying an additional 13,044 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on UPWK. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Upwork from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.42.

Upwork Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Upwork stock opened at $16.67 on Tuesday. Upwork Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.93 and a 1-year high of $20.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 1.54. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $16.62 and a 200-day moving average of $14.88.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Upwork's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,014 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total value of $199,879.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,886.20. This represents a 96.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 8,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $167,266.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 218,605 shares in the company, valued at $4,188,471.80. The trade was a 3.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 222,576 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,318 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% 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.

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