Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 186,081 Shares of Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 126.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 332,884 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 186,081 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Upwork were worth $6,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,989,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,086,000 after acquiring an additional 322,455 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,537,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,569,000 after acquiring an additional 23,900 shares during the last quarter. Ancient Art L.P. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 13.1% during the third quarter. Ancient Art L.P. now owns 4,268,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,269,000 after acquiring an additional 494,759 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 5.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,009,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,883,000 after acquiring an additional 147,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 2.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,828,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,534,000 after acquiring an additional 71,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $8.76 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.44 and a twelve month high of $22.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.01.

Upwork announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 18% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Roth Mkm downgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Upwork from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,278 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total transaction of $114,212.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 307,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,782,124.40. This trade represents a 2.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total transaction of $292,300.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 798,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,832,390.92. The trade was a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 53,080 shares of company stock valued at $647,675 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

About Upwork

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.