Teza Capital Management LLC Makes New $265,000 Investment in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Key Points

• Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork Inc. in the first quarter, purchasing 20,283 shares valued at approximately $265,000.
• Upwork's CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares at an average price of $13.76, resulting in a 5.20% decrease in his ownership of the stock.
• Upwork announced a stock buyback plan to repurchase up to $100 million in outstanding shares, indicating that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 3,492.8% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 3,877 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Upwork by 1,235.1% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the first quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Finally, Alhambra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork in the first quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Upwork Trading Up 3.0%

UPWK stock traded up $0.49 on Friday, hitting $16.86. 4,510,121 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,724,282. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.75 and a twelve 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 business's fifty day moving average is $14.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 1.43.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Upwork's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the business'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 transaction of $825,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,093,485 shares in the company, valued at $15,046,353.60. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $263,458.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 209,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 159,608 shares of company stock worth $2,187,556. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.