Upwork Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 6,799 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 113% compared to the average volume of 3,187 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPWK has been the topic of several research reports. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Upwork from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.92.

Upwork Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of UPWK stock opened at $17.87 on Friday. Upwork has a twelve month low of $11.13 and a twelve month high of $20.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 1.57.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $201.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.33 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 31.63%.Upwork’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. Upwork has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Upwork will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Upwork announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 3rd that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 24,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total transaction of $414,928.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,107,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,501,829.80. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 1,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.13, for a total transaction of $31,691.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,254.85. This trade represents a 83.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 159,632 shares of company stock worth $2,942,377 over the last 90 days. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Upwork by 364.5% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,351,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,836,000 after purchasing an additional 4,199,244 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 785.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,322,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,356 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork during the 1st quarter worth about $22,079,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Upwork by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,237,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,201,000 after buying an additional 1,491,701 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Upwork by 41.1% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,660,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,820,000 after buying an additional 1,357,476 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.