Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Invests $14.34 Million in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Posted by on Jul 26th, 2026

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK – Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,308,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,338,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in Upwork in the fourth quarter worth about $3,342,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 1,566.8% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 105,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,085,000 after acquiring an additional 98,943 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 547.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 73,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 61,976 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,989,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,086,000 after acquiring an additional 322,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $8.83 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.44 and a 52-week high of $22.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 341,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,784,113.35. This trade represents a 2.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,468 shares of Upwork 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 $191,264.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 797,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,499,584.25. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,913 shares of company stock worth $276,391. 4.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on UPWK. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group downgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on UPWK

Upwork Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UPWK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK – Free Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Receive News & Ratings for Upwork Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Upwork and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.