Insider Selling: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) COO Sells 45,732 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Upwork COO Anthony Kappus sold 45,732 shares at an average price of $8.45, worth approximately $386,435. The sale was made to cover tax withholding from vested equity awards, leaving him with 76,342 shares.
• Upwork shares were trading near $8.35, close to their one-year low of $7.44 and below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $13.05, while recent firms have lowered their targets. The company nonetheless exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.41 in EPS versus the $0.34 consensus.

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) COO Anthony Kappus sold 45,732 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.45, for a total value of $386,435.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 76,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $645,089.90. This represents a 37.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Anthony Ray Kappus also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Anthony Kappus sold 1,964 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.43, for a total transaction of $16,556.52.
• On Saturday, July 18th, Anthony Kappus sold 558 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total transaction of $5,055.48.

Upwork Price Performance

NASDAQ UPWK traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.35. 3,115,523 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,699,119. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.57.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $191.66 million during the quarter. Upwork had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 12.94%.The business's revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Upwork in the second quarter valued at approximately $23,214,000. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at $40,136,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 900,318 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 26.5% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Upwork during the second quarter valued at about $6,156,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Upwork from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut 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 report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.05.

Upwork Company Profile

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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