Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Shares Down 8.3% – What’s Next?

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)’s share price dropped 8.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $8.93 and last traded at $8.7960. Approximately 1,085,678 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 3,770,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPWK has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $22.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citizens Jmp lowered Upwork from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Roth Capital downgraded Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Upwork from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

Upwork Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $8.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.99.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $74,727.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 341,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,784,113.35. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $191,264.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 797,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,499,584.25. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 33,913 shares of company stock worth $276,391 over the last quarter. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Upwork by 594.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Upwork by 379.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 434.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upwork during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Upwork by 19,361.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 3,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Company Profile

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.