Wall Street Zen Downgrades Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) to Hold

Key Points

• Upwork has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, amidst mixed sentiments from other analysts who maintain varying price targets for the stock.
• The company recently announced a $100 million share buyback plan, which is often seen as a sign that management believes the stock is currently undervalued.
• Upwork reported strong earnings, with a quarterly EPS of $0.35, exceeding analyst expectations, and a revenue of $194.94 million, reflecting a modest increase compared to the previous year.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on UPWK. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Monday, June 2nd. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Friday, September 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.83.

Upwork Price Performance

NASDAQ UPWK traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $19.76. 142,884 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,599,689. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.36. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $14.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.25. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.43. Upwork has a 1-year low of $9.93 and a 1-year high of $20.41.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.56 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 31.75%.The company's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Upwork announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,082,358 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,160. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 10,014 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total value of $199,879.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 345 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,886.20. This trade represents a 96.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 222,576 shares of company stock worth $3,670,318 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Straightline Group LLC increased its holdings in Upwork by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Straightline Group LLC now owns 37,143 shares of the company's stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 546.8% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 137,044 shares of the company's stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 115,857 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Upwork during the 2nd quarter worth about $241,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 45,706 shares of the company's stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 6,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 1,333.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,972 shares of the company's stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 12,997 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company's stock.

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.