Insider Selling: Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Sells 21,122 Shares of Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Hayden Brown sold 21,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total transaction of $341,120.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,275,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,592,590.45. This represents a 1.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Hayden Brown also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 18th, Hayden Brown sold 8,997 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.12, for a total transaction of $154,028.64.
• On Monday, December 16th, Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.84, for a total transaction of $336,800.00.
• On Wednesday, November 27th, Hayden Brown sold 15,000 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00.

Upwork Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UPWK traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $16.76. The stock had a trading volume of 3,338,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,702,107. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a current ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.57. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $18.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.59.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. On average, analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Upwork in the third quarter valued at about $858,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Upwork by 133.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after buying an additional 66,842 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Upwork by 40.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 251,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after buying an additional 73,104 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Upwork in the third quarter valued at about $8,369,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Upwork by 2,216.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 503,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,263,000 after buying an additional 481,942 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UPWK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.91.

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.