Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Invests $406,000 in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 30,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Upwork during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 85.8% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 7,319 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 61.6% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 262,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,524,000 after purchasing an additional 99,941 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Upwork during the second quarter worth $1,263,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in Upwork by 32.3% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 57,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $769,000 after buying an additional 13,946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other news, Director Gary Steele sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.51, for a total value of $218,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 85,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,608.79. This represents a 12.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 1,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.13, for a total value of $31,691.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,254.85. This represents a 83.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 582,132 shares of company stock worth $11,080,002 in the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Upwork Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $19.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.02. Upwork Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.13 and a 52-week high of $20.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.61.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $201.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.33 million. Upwork had a net margin of 31.63% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Upwork’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upwork announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on UPWK shares. Wall Street Zen raised Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Upwork from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Upwork from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.92.

Upwork 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.