OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Buys Shares of 127,000 Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired 127,000 shares of Upwork Inc., valued at approximately $1,657,000, representing a 0.10% ownership stake in the company by the end of the most recent quarter.
• Institutional investors now own 77.71% of Upwork's stock, with several hedge funds recently increasing their positions in the company.
• Upwork reported earnings of $0.35 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate and showcasing a revenue increase of 0.9% year-over-year.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 127,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,657,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp owned approximately 0.10% of Upwork at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Upwork by 3,492.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 3,877 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Upwork by 1,235.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 3,767 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Alhambra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at about $178,000. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter worth approximately $180,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Leela Srinivasan sold 6,520 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.16, for a total value of $98,843.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 82,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,254,990.28. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $825,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,093,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,046,353.60. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 169,442 shares of company stock valued at $2,337,303 in the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,543,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,368,748. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.90 and a 12-month high of $18.14. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $13.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.43.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%.The business 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 business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Upwork's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Upwork declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UPWK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Upwork from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.67.

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.