Trexquant Investment LP Trims Stake in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in Upwork Inc. by 62.4%, holding 201,629 shares after selling 334,718 shares worth approximately $2.63 million.
• CEOs and insiders sold a total of 162,922 shares valued at $2.24 million over the last three months, reflecting a decrease in their ownership stakes.
• Despite the recent sales, Upwork saw a positive earnings report, beating estimates with a $0.35 EPS and raising its revenue forecast, alongside announcing a $100 million stock buyback program.

Trexquant Investment LP trimmed its position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 62.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 201,629 shares of the company's stock after selling 334,718 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.15% of Upwork worth $2,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 4,199,244 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Upwork by 41.1% during 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 buying an additional 1,357,476 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Upwork by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045,142 shares of the company's stock worth $49,788,000 after buying an additional 397,997 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 50.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,630,379 shares of the company's stock worth $34,326,000 after purchasing an additional 882,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,436,680 shares of the company's stock worth $39,840,000 after purchasing an additional 803,929 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the firm'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 value of $263,458.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,895,355.68. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 2,060 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total value of $28,510.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,035 shares in the company, valued at $28,164.40. This represents a 50.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,608 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,556 in the last three months. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on UPWK shares. JMP Securities increased their price target on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Upwork from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upwork has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.67.

Upwork Stock Performance

Upwork stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.19. 4,406,454 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,997,400. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.43. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.90 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.36.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.56 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%.Upwork's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Upwork declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.