Insider Selling: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Sells 23,745 Shares of Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total value of $292,300.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 798,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,832,390.92. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Hayden Brown also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 18th, Hayden Brown sold 123,152 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.80, for a total value of $1,699,497.60.

Upwork Stock Performance

Upwork stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.27. 5,362,986 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,698,783. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.07. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.09 and a fifty-two week high of $22.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $16.06 and its 200-day moving average is $17.55.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Upwork by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,231,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,166,000 after buying an additional 5,893,970 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in Upwork by 785.7% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,322,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,962,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060,356 shares during the period. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upwork in the fourth quarter worth about $40,136,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Upwork in the third quarter worth about $24,782,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Upwork by 93.6% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,862,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,580,000 after purchasing an additional 900,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Upwork from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $22.00 target price on Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upwork presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.60.

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.