SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC sharply cut its Upwork stake by 78.8% in the first quarter, selling 127,788 shares and ending with 34,468 shares worth about $378,000.
• Several other large institutional investors remain heavily invested in Upwork, and overall hedge funds and institutions own 77.71% of the company’s stock.
• Wall Street sentiment has softened: multiple analysts lowered targets or downgraded the stock, leaving Upwork with a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $15.50.

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Free Report) by 78.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,468 shares of the company's stock after selling 127,788 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Upwork were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPWK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Upwork from $25.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Upwork from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Roth Capital lowered Upwork from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut shares of Upwork from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Upwork Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $8.68 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a one year low of $7.44 and a one year high of $22.84. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $8.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 0.99.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total value of $74,727.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 341,609 shares in the company, valued at $2,784,113.35. This trade represents a 2.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 797,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,499,584.25. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 33,913 shares of company stock valued at $276,391 in the last ninety days. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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