Insider Selling: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Sells $78,889.20 in Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,336 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.45, for a total transaction of $78,889.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 373,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,801.70. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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.

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

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Erica Gessert sold 22,844 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.43, for a total transaction of $192,574.92.

Upwork Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $8.07 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $8.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.46. Upwork Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.44 and a 52 week high of $22.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 1.01.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Upwork had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 12.94%.The business had revenue of $191.66 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ancient Art L.P. lifted 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 valued at $91,981,000 after buying an additional 372,147 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,715,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,720,000 after purchasing an additional 779,506 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Upwork by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,288,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,185,000 after buying an additional 900,318 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork during the second quarter worth $23,214,000. Finally, Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 4th quarter worth about $40,136,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on UPWK shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Upwork from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $11.50 target price on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.05.

Upwork Company Profile

Upwork Inc operates a global online work marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals and agencies. The platform supports a wide range of services, including software development, design and creative work, marketing, writing and translation, consulting, customer support, and administrative services.

Through its marketplace, Upwork enables businesses to find talent, post projects, manage engagements, collaborate remotely, and process payments. The company also offers solutions designed for larger organizations, including tools for sourcing, onboarding, managing, and paying independent professionals at scale.

Upwork was formed through the 2014 merger of Elance and oDesk and adopted the Upwork name in 2015.