Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Insider Sells $142,488.25 in Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total value of $142,488.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,136.18. The trade was a 54.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Dave Bottoms also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, March 19th, Dave Bottoms sold 7,000 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.49, for a total value of $80,430.00.
• On Thursday, February 19th, Dave Bottoms sold 15,649 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total value of $211,417.99.
• On Wednesday, February 18th, Dave Bottoms sold 17,013 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.80, for a total transaction of $234,779.40.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of UPWK stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $11.27. 5,362,986 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,698,783. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.55. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.09 and a twelve month high of $22.84. 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 announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 18% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Upwork by 5,280.0% during 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 during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 998.4% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the period. 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 buying an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Upwork by 2,405.7% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPWK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research lowered Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Upwork from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.60.

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.