Insider Selling: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CFO Sells $78,889.20 in Stock

Key Points

• Upwork CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,336 shares for $78,889.20 at an average price of $8.45, reducing her holdings by 2.44% to 373,586 shares. The sale covered tax-withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards.
• Upwork shares were down 0.2% at $8.35, near the lower end of their 52-week range of $7.44 to $22.84. The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.41 in EPS versus the $0.34 consensus, despite a 1.7% year-over-year revenue decline.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $13.05; institutional investors own 77.71% of the stock.

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,336 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.45, for a total value of $78,889.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 373,586 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,801.70. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Erica Gessert also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Erica Gessert sold 22,844 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.43, for a total value of $192,574.92.

Upwork Stock Down 0.2%

Upwork stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $8.35. The stock had a trading volume of 3,115,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,699,119. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 1.01. Upwork Inc. has a one year low of $7.44 and a one year high of $22.84. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $8.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.57.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upwork

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ancient Art L.P. lifted its stake in Upwork by 8.7% in the fourth 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. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Upwork by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,288,860 shares of the company's stock worth $65,185,000 after buying an additional 900,318 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Upwork by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,715,616 shares of the company's stock worth $40,720,000 after buying an additional 779,506 shares during the period. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upwork in the 4th quarter valued at $40,136,000. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,379,902 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,350,000 after acquiring an additional 338,002 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About Upwork

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.

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