Empowered Funds LLC Acquires New Holdings in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC initiated a 245,379-share Upwork position worth approximately $2.05 million, while institutional investors collectively owned 77.71% of the company.
• Upwork reported quarterly EPS of $0.41, beating estimates of $0.34, although revenue fell 1.7% year over year to $191.66 million. Shares opened at $9.19, near the lower end of their 52-week range.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.05; CEO Hayden Brown and CFO Erica Gessert also sold shares to cover tax obligations on vested equity awards.

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 245,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,051,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Upwork at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Upwork by 44.2% in 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Upwork by 2.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Ancient Art L.P. lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Upwork by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,715,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,720,000 after buying an additional 779,506 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Upwork Stock Up 1.8%

UPWK stock opened at $9.19 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.44 and a 52-week high of $22.84. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $8.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.01.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Upwork from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $11.50 target price on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 73,241 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.43, for a total transaction of $617,421.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 771,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,500,170.68. This represents a 8.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 22,844 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.43, for a total transaction of $192,574.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 364,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,171.27. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 132,520 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,000 in the last 90 days. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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