Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Makes New Investment in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,776,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,214,000. Upwork accounts for 1.1% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of UPWK. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,151,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the second quarter valued at $6,156,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,965,000. Maridea Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork during the 2nd quarter valued at $121,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in Upwork during the 2nd quarter worth $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Trading Down 3.4%

UPWK stock opened at $8.19 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.76. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.44 and a 12-month high of $22.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 0.99.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $191.66 million during the quarter. Upwork had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Upwork has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Citigroup cut their price target on Upwork from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Upwork from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $74,727.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 341,609 shares in the company, valued at $2,784,113.35. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $191,264.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 797,495 shares in the company, valued at $6,499,584.25. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 34,471 shares of company stock valued at $281,446 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Profile

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.