Insider Selling: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Sells 18,493 Shares of Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Erica Gessert sold 18,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total transaction of $308,833.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 237,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,968,120.40. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Erica Gessert also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, September 18th, Erica Gessert sold 8,730 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $167,266.80.

Upwork Stock Performance

UPWK stock traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.16. The company had a trading volume of 9,022,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,696,741. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.13 and a fifty-two week high of $20.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.57.

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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPWK. Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Upwork by 5,280.0% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Upwork by 998.4% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Upwork during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Upwork by 2,405.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Upwork by 415.9% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPWK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Upwork from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Upwork from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.92.

About Upwork

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.