Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Sells $1,029,600.00 in Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.16, for a total value of $1,029,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,106,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,993,477.36. This trade represents a 5.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Monday, May 19th, Hayden Brown sold 26,438 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction of $438,342.04.
• On Monday, May 12th, Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.09, for a total transaction of $341,800.00.
• On Wednesday, May 7th, Hayden Brown sold 40,000 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.92, for a total transaction of $636,800.00.
• On Tuesday, March 18th, Hayden Brown sold 9,075 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $118,610.25.
• On Friday, March 7th, Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total value of $852,000.00.
• On Tuesday, February 18th, Hayden Brown sold 21,122 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total value of $341,120.30.

Upwork Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $16.55 on Tuesday. Upwork Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.43 and a 1 year 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $13.78 and a 200 day moving average of $15.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.52.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Upwork had a net margin of 28.02% and a return on equity of 50.83%. The firm had revenue of $192.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.49 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Upwork by 5.7% during the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Upwork by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Upwork by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 67,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Upwork by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 178,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,914,000 after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 263,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,313,000 after buying an additional 2,636 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Upwork from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.67.

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.