Ancient Art L.P. Purchases 372,147 Shares of Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Ancient Art L.P. grew its position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,640,814 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 372,147 shares during the quarter. Upwork makes up 20.8% of Ancient Art L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ancient Art L.P. owned approximately 3.55% of Upwork worth $91,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 5,280.0% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 998.4% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Upwork by 594.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Upwork by 2,405.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Upwork by 379.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Upwork from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group lowered Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Upwork from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Upwork from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Upwork Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $8.07 on Thursday. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.44 and a twelve month high of $22.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.28. The company has a market capitalization of $996.81 million, a PE ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.01.

Upwork announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 18% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Upwork Profile

Upwork Inc operates a leading online talent marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals worldwide. Through its digital platform, the company enables clients across industries—including technology, marketing, creative services and customer support—to source, hire and manage freelance talent on demand. Key features of the Upwork platform include streamlined job posting, proposal evaluation, time-tracking tools, invoicing and secure payment processing, all designed to simplify collaboration between clients and remote workers.

The company traces its roots to the merger of two pioneering freelance marketplaces, Elance (founded in 1998) and oDesk (founded in 2003), which combined in 2015 to form a unified entity.