Insider Selling: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) COO Sells $386,435.40 in Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) COO Anthony Kappus sold 45,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.45, for a total value of $386,435.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 76,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $645,089.90. This represents a 37.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Anthony Ray Kappus also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Anthony Kappus sold 1,964 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.43, for a total value of $16,556.52.
• On Saturday, July 18th, Anthony Kappus sold 558 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total value of $5,055.48.

Upwork Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $8.07 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.46. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.44 and a 12-month high of $22.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on UPWK. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Upwork from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Upwork during the 2nd quarter valued at $23,214,000. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter worth $40,136,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,288,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,185,000 after acquiring an additional 900,318 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 26.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,715,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,720,000 after acquiring an additional 779,506 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Upwork during the second quarter valued at $6,156,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Upwork Company Profile

Upwork Inc operates a global online work marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals and agencies. The platform supports a wide range of services, including software development, design and creative work, marketing, writing and translation, consulting, customer support, and administrative services.

Through its marketplace, Upwork enables businesses to find talent, post projects, manage engagements, collaborate remotely, and process payments. The company also offers solutions designed for larger organizations, including tools for sourcing, onboarding, managing, and paying independent professionals at scale.

Upwork was formed through the 2014 merger of Elance and oDesk and adopted the Upwork name in 2015.