Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Sells $400,000.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Hayden Brown, the CEO of Upwork, sold a total of 20,000 shares for $400,000 on September 19th, which decreased his ownership in the company by 1.81% to 1,082,358 shares.
• Upwork has announced a $100 million stock buyback plan, indicating leadership believes the stock is undervalued.
• Upwork's recent earnings report showed a EPS of $0.35, beating estimates and reflecting year-over-year revenue growth of 0.9%.

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,082,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,160. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Hayden Brown also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, September 18th, Hayden Brown sold 42,344 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total transaction of $808,346.96.
• On Wednesday, September 17th, Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $360,000.00.
• On Monday, August 18th, Hayden Brown sold 25,577 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $353,985.68.
• On Friday, August 15th, Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $825,600.00.

Upwork Trading Down 3.7%

UPWK stock traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $19.33. 4,707,781 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,354,424. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.25. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.93 and a 12-month high of $20.41.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.56 million. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. Upwork's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upwork declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Upwork currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.67.

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.