Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Makes New Investment in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,776,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,214,000. Upwork accounts for approximately 1.1% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned about 2.25% of Upwork at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 594.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Upwork by 434.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Upwork by 43.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Upwork by 19,361.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 3,485 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Trading Down 3.4%

NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $8.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.76. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.44 and a twelve month high of $22.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 0.99.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $191.66 million during the quarter. Upwork had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Upwork has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UPWK shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Upwork from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Roth Capital cut Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Upwork from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.05.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other Upwork news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $191,264.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 797,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,499,584.25. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of the business’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 $74,727.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 341,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,784,113.35. The trade was a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 34,471 shares of company stock valued at $281,446 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Company Profile

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.