Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Key Points

• Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired 15,102 shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) valued at approximately $203,000 during the second quarter.
• Upwork's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.35, surpassing expectations and contributing to a strong stock performance, with a new stock buyback program announced amounting to $100 million.
• Analyst ratings for Upwork remain mostly positive, with eight analysts rating it as a Buy and four as Hold, leading to a consensus target price of $18.67.

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,102 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UPWK. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 385.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 232,128 shares of the company's stock worth $3,795,000 after purchasing an additional 184,289 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter worth $377,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 70,867 shares of the company's stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 35,092 shares of the company's stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 11,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter worth $669,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on UPWK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upwork from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Upwork currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.67.

Upwork Price Performance

UPWK stock opened at $19.60 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.93 and a 52 week high of $19.74. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.43.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. The business had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Upwork's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upwork announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total value of $263,458.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 209,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,895,355.68. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 25,577 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $353,985.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,118,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,477,147.44. This trade represents a 2.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 112,436 shares of company stock worth $1,550,484. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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