Insider Selling: Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Sells $299,816.08 in Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.13, for a total transaction of $299,816.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 128,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,950,847.07. This represents a 13.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, September 18th, Erica Gessert sold 4,491 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.57, for a total transaction of $47,469.87.

Upwork Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of UPWK opened at $16.02 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.43 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.18. Upwork Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.43 and a 52 week high of $17.79.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $193.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.55 million. Upwork had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 22.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on UPWK. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $18.00 price target (up from $13.00) on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP raised its position in Upwork by 32.9% in the second quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 3,320,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,700,000 after purchasing an additional 822,518 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Upwork in the third quarter worth about $8,369,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 5.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,996,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,115,000 after buying an additional 770,088 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 71.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,635,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,572,000 after buying an additional 679,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 132.5% during the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 964,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,826,000 after buying an additional 549,733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

About Upwork

Upwork Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a work marketplace that connects businesses with various independent professionals and agencies in the United States, India, the Philippines, and internationally. The company’s work marketplace provides access to talent with various skills across a range of categories, including administrative support, sales and marketing, design and creative, and customer service, as well as web, mobile, and software development.