Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $6.85 Million Stock Position in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Upwork Inc. by 17.5%, owning $6.85 million worth of stock after acquiring an additional 75,760 shares.
• Upwork announced a $100 million stock buyback program, indicating management's belief that the share price is undervalued.
• In the most recent earnings report, Upwork surpassed expectations with earnings of $0.35 per share and revenue of $194.94 million, indicating positive growth trends.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 509,694 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 75,760 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.39% of Upwork worth $6,850,000 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. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 364.5% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,351,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,836,000 after purchasing an additional 4,199,244 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the first quarter valued at approximately $22,079,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Upwork by 200.0% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,237,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491,701 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $60,820,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,476 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the first quarter worth about $13,713,000. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Upwork Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of UPWK opened at $19.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30 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. The business's fifty day moving average price is $14.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.28. Upwork Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.93 and a 52 week high of $20.41.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $187.56 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Upwork declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $825,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total value of $263,458.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 209,202 shares in the company, valued at $2,895,355.68. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 222,576 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,318. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on UPWK. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Upwork from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 an average target price of $18.83.

Upwork 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.

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