Insider Selling: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) CAO Sells 1,294 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Upwork Inc. CAO Olivier Marie sold 1,294 shares at an average price of $14.00, resulting in a total of $18,116.00 from the transaction, significantly reducing his ownership by 63.37%.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $0.35, beating expectations and indicating a revenue increase to $194.94 million.
• Upwork has attracted significant institutional buying, with a number of firms significantly increasing their positions in the stock during the second quarter.

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) CAO Olivier Marie sold 1,294 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $18,116.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,472. The trade was a 63.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Olivier Marie also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 19th, Olivier Marie sold 1,686 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.88, for a total transaction of $23,401.68.
• On Monday, August 18th, Olivier Marie sold 941 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $13,023.44.
• On Monday, June 23rd, Olivier Marie sold 1,842 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.24, for a total transaction of $24,388.08.
• On Friday, June 20th, Olivier Marie sold 748 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.24, for a total transaction of $9,903.52.
• On Wednesday, June 18th, Olivier Marie sold 1,879 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.50, for a total transaction of $25,366.50.
• On Tuesday, May 20th, Olivier Marie sold 1,655 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.41, for a total transaction of $27,158.55.

Upwork Price Performance

Upwork stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $14.92. 2,415,385 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,728,423. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $13.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.12. Upwork Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.90 and a 1-year high of $18.14.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.56 million. Upwork had a net margin of 31.75% and a return on equity of 44.83%. Upwork's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPWK has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Upwork from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UPWK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,498,688 shares of the company's stock worth $253,405,000 after buying an additional 5,289,493 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 364.5% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,351,406 shares of the company's stock worth $69,836,000 after purchasing an additional 4,199,244 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork during the first quarter worth approximately $22,079,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 86.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,303,035 shares of the company's stock worth $54,005,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,078 shares during the period. Finally, Contour Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upwork during the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,633,000. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Upwork

Upwork Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a work marketplace that connects businesses with various independent professionals and agencies in the United States, India, the Philippines, and internationally. The company's work marketplace provides access to talent with various skills across a range of categories, including administrative support, sales and marketing, design and creative, and customer service, as well as web, mobile, and software development.