Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,025,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,136,000. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.55% of Upwork at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the 3rd quarter worth about $24,782,000. Ancient Art L.P. grew its position in Upwork by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ancient Art L.P. now owns 4,268,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,269,000 after purchasing an additional 494,759 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Upwork during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,648,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Upwork by 1,566.8% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 105,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 98,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. purchased a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,342,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Upwork Price Performance

Upwork stock opened at $8.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 1.01. Upwork Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.44 and a 1 year high of $22.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.36.

Upwork announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 18% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on UPWK shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Upwork from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other Upwork news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 7,000 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.49, for a total value of $80,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,770.22. This trade represents a 72.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Upwork Company 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.