Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 18.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,010 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,842 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Upwork were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 3,492.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 3,877 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 1,235.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 3,767 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the 1st quarter worth about $130,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Finally, Alhambra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Upwork in the 1st quarter valued at about $178,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. 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. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 2,060 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 2,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,164.40. This represents a 50.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,036 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 value of $263,458.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,202 shares in the company, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 194,780 shares of company stock worth $3,118,830. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of Upwork stock opened at $20.07 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.52 and a 200 day moving average of $14.21. Upwork Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.93 and a 52 week high of $20.38.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $194.94 million during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Upwork declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.