Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Sells 275,000 Shares

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Hayden Brown sold 275,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.43, for a total transaction of $5,343,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 697,894 shares in the company, valued at $13,560,080.42. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, November 21st, Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.20, for a total value of $1,092,000.00.
• On Tuesday, November 18th, Hayden Brown sold 24,846 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total value of $414,928.20.
• On Friday, September 19th, Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $400,000.00.
• On Thursday, September 18th, Hayden Brown sold 42,344 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total value of $808,346.96.
• On Wednesday, September 17th, Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $360,000.00.

Upwork Price Performance

NASDAQ UPWK traded up $0.18 on Friday, reaching $19.76. The company had a trading volume of 2,206,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,838,370. Upwork Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.13 and a 1 year high of $20.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.52 and a 200-day moving average of $15.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 1.57.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $201.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.33 million. Upwork had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 31.63%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Upwork has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upwork declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Upwork by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Upwork by 4.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 24,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Upwork by 0.4% during the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 264,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Straightline Group LLC increased its stake in Upwork by 3.1% during the third quarter. Straightline Group LLC now owns 38,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 998.4% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPWK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of Upwork in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Upwork from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.92.

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.