Stock Buyback Plan Authorized by Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Board of Directors

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 18% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Upwork Stock Up 7.6%

Shares of UPWK stock traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,723,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,550,363. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.74. Upwork has a 12-month low of $11.13 and a 12-month high of $22.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 1.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on UPWK. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Upwork from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Upwork from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 275,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.43, for a total transaction of $5,343,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 697,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,560,080.42. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total value of $232,358.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,220.53. This represents a 53.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 475,598 shares of company stock worth $9,231,586. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

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.