Erica Gessert Sells 19,677 Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Erica Gessert sold 19,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.56, for a total transaction of $325,851.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 181,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,011,816.88. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, March 18th, Erica Gessert sold 4,316 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $56,410.12.
• On Tuesday, February 18th, Erica Gessert sold 13,765 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total transaction of $222,304.75.

Upwork Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $16.55. 2,542,203 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,259,151. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.52. Upwork Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.43 and a 12 month high of $18.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $192.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.49 million. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Upwork by 3,492.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,877 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Upwork by 1,235.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares in the last quarter. Nkcfo LLC bought a new stake in Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPWK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Upwork currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.67.

Upwork Company Profile

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.