Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,025,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,136,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UPWK. Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new position in shares of Upwork during the 4th quarter worth about $199,000. Mangrove Partners IM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork during the 4th quarter worth about $275,000. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 98,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,962,000 after purchasing an additional 19,712 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork during the 4th quarter worth about $310,000. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its stake in shares of Upwork by 82.3% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 20,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 9,055 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Dave Bottoms sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 2,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,770.22. This represents a 72.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm cut shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Upwork from $25.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.50.

Upwork Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of UPWK opened at $8.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 1.01. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.44 and a 12-month high of $22.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.36.

Upwork announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 18% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Upwork

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.