Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $1.63 Million Stock Holdings in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Key Points

• Sanctuary Advisors LLC significantly increased its Upwork stake in Q1, boosting its holdings by 1,374.4% to 148,664 shares worth about $1.63 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding about 77.71% of Upwork shares, even as several firms recently adjusted their positions.
• Analysts have turned more cautious on Upwork, with multiple firms cutting ratings and price targets; the stock now carries a consensus Hold rating and a $15.50 price target.

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 1,374.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 148,664 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 138,581 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC owned about 0.12% of Upwork worth $1,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Upwork by 594.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Upwork by 379.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Upwork by 434.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,881 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $8.96 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.20. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.99. Upwork Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.44 and a 52 week high of $22.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upwork

In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 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 $74,727.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 341,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,784,113.35. This trade represents a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 value of $191,264.20. Following 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 a total of 33,913 shares of company stock worth $276,391 in the last ninety days. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on UPWK. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $9.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group lowered Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded Upwork from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

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.

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