Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 779,506 Shares of Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors increased its Upwork stake by 26.5%, purchasing 779,506 additional shares to own 3.72 million shares worth approximately $40.7 million, or 3.01% of the company.
• Institutional investors hold 77.71% of Upwork, while company insiders own 4.90%. Recent executive stock sales were made to cover tax withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards.
• Analysts have broadly turned more cautious, with several brokerages downgrading Upwork and cutting price targets. The stock carries a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $15.50.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 26.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,715,616 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 779,506 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 3.01% of Upwork worth $40,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UPWK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Upwork by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,231,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $381,166,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,970 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $297,086,000 after purchasing an additional 322,455 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,537,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,569,000 after buying an additional 23,900 shares during the period. Ancient Art L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancient Art L.P. now owns 4,640,814 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,981,000 after buying an additional 372,147 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Upwork by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,585,846 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,071,000 after buying an additional 576,512 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $74,727.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 341,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,784,113.35. This trade represents a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total value of $191,264.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 797,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold 34,471 shares of company stock valued at $281,446 over the last ninety days. 4.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on UPWK. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Upwork from $20.00 to $9.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Roth Capital cut 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. UBS Group downgraded Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Upwork from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.50.

Upwork Trading Up 4.1%

UPWK stock opened at $9.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.57. Upwork Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.44 and a 1 year high of $22.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.99.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source