Key Points
- Upwork CEO Hayden Brown sold 73,241 shares at an average price of $8.43, totaling approximately $617,422. The sale reduced her direct ownership by 8.67% and was made to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards.
- Upwork shares opened at $8.66 and are down 0.3%, with the stock trading near its 52-week low of $7.44. The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.41 in EPS versus the $0.34 consensus, though revenue declined 1.7% year over year.
- Institutional investors own 77.71% of Upwork, while analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $13.05 target price. Recent analyst actions largely lowered price targets to between $8 and $11.50.
Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) COO Anthony Ray Kappus sold 1,964 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.43, for a total transaction of $16,556.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,814.02. The trade was a 21.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.
Anthony Ray Kappus also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Saturday, July 18th, Anthony Ray Kappus sold 558 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total transaction of $5,055.48.
Upwork Stock Down 0.3%
Shares of UPWK opened at $8.66 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.44 and a 52-week high of $22.84. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.83 and a 200 day moving average of $10.51.
Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Upwork had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The company had revenue of $191.66 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Upwork has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,231,377 shares of the company's stock worth $381,166,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,970 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Upwork by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,989,217 shares of the company's stock worth $297,086,000 after purchasing an additional 322,455 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Upwork by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,537,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,569,000 after purchasing an additional 23,900 shares in the last quarter. Ancient Art L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancient Art L.P. now owns 4,640,814 shares of the company's stock worth $91,981,000 after buying an additional 372,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 26.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,715,616 shares of the company's stock worth $40,720,000 after buying an additional 779,506 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
UPWK has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $11.50 price target on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Upwork from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Upwork from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Upwork from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upwork presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.05.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on UPWK
Upwork Company Profile
(
Get 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.
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