Acadian Asset Management LLC Has $11 Million Holdings in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 24.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 843,330 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 164,993 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Upwork were worth $10,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UPWK. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Upwork by 12.8% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 115,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 13,044 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 184,289 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Upwork by 174.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 54,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 34,534 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Upwork by 1,235.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,767 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other news, CAO Olivier Marie sold 1,879 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.50, for a total value of $25,366.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,532. This represents a 28.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $263,458.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,895,355.68. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,608 shares of company stock worth $2,187,556 over the last three months. 7.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Upwork Stock Up 3.0%

UPWK stock opened at $16.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Upwork Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.75 and a 12 month high of $18.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.11.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $194.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.56 million. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upwork declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UPWK shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective 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.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.