Insider Selling: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Sells 23,147 Shares of Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total value of $476,596.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 721,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,848,643.22. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, November 25th, Hayden Brown sold 75,000 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.78, for a total value of $1,483,500.00.
• On Wednesday, November 26th, Hayden Brown sold 275,000 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.43, for a total transaction of $5,343,250.00.
• On Friday, November 21st, Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.20, for a total transaction of $1,092,000.00.
• On Tuesday, November 18th, Hayden Brown sold 24,846 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total transaction of $414,928.20.

Upwork Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK traded up $0.71 during trading on Monday, reaching $21.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,423,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,867,209. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.08. Upwork Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.13 and a fifty-two week high of $22.32.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Upwork has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Upwork announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Upwork in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,118,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upwork during the first quarter worth $750,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the second quarter valued at $619,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC grew its holdings in Upwork by 80.6% during the 2nd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 251,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,377,000 after purchasing an additional 112,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Upwork by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC now owns 463,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,235,000 after buying an additional 98,811 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPWK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Upwork from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 28th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Ten research 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.92.

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.