Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) to Repurchase $100.00 million in Stock

Key Points

• Upwork has announced a stock repurchase plan of $100 million, aiming to buy back up to 4.9% of its shares, indicating that the board believes the shares are undervalued.
• Despite some analysts downgrading, the consensus rating for Upwork's stock remains a "Moderate Buy," with a target price of $18.67.
• Upwork reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.35, surpassing analysts' expectations, and generating a revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 3rd, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPWK has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of 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 set a $19.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. 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, Royal Bank Of Canada restated 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.67.

Upwork Stock Up 3.1%

Upwork stock traded up $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,543,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,368,748. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Upwork has a 52-week low of $8.90 and a 52-week high of $18.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.11.

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

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In related news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 2,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total value of $28,510.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,164.40. This represents a 50.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 25,577 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $353,985.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,118,291 shares in the company, valued at $15,477,147.44. This represents a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 169,442 shares of company stock worth $2,337,303 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

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.

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