Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Hayden Brown Sells 23,468 Shares of Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $191,264.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 797,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,499,584.25. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Upwork Stock Up 4.7%

NASDAQ:UPWK traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $8.21. 3,519,523 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,893,765. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.02. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 1.01. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.44 and a twelve month high of $22.84.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Upwork by 7,074.5% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 726,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,966,000 after buying an additional 716,650 shares during the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 52,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 13,688 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 67,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 17,734 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Upwork by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 156,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,712,000 after acquiring an additional 37,048 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Upwork by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 192,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 20,331 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on UPWK shares. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Upwork from $25.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Roth Mkm lowered shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Upwork from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. 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. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Upwork from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upwork presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

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.