Insider Selling: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Sells 26,292 Shares of Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Erica Gessert sold 26,292 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.80, for a total transaction of $362,829.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 298,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,117,726.80. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• On Thursday, December 18th, Erica Gessert sold 9,044 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $186,215.96.

Upwork Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of UPWK traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $13.32. 4,225,658 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,808,437. Upwork Inc. has a one year low of $11.13 and a one year high of $22.84. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.21 and a 200 day moving average of $17.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.06.

Upwork declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 18% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Upwork by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,231,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,166,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,970 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in Upwork by 785.7% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,322,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,356 shares in the last quarter. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Upwork in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,136,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Upwork in the third quarter worth $24,782,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 22.1% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,534,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,169 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPWK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Upwork from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Upwork from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $22.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Upwork from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.60.

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.