Hayden Brown Sells 60,000 Shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) CEO Hayden Brown sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total value of $852,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,215,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,254,178.60. This trade represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Hayden Brown also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 18th, Hayden Brown sold 21,122 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total transaction of $341,120.30.
• On Wednesday, December 18th, Hayden Brown sold 8,997 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.12, for a total transaction of $154,028.64.
• On Monday, December 16th, Hayden Brown sold 20,000 shares of Upwork stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.84, for a total transaction of $336,800.00.

Upwork Trading Down 1.1 %

Upwork stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $13.39. The stock had a trading volume of 3,111,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,589,448. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.61. Upwork Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.43 and a 52 week high of $18.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.79. Upwork had a return on equity of 50.83% and a net margin of 28.02%. Analysts forecast that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPWK has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Upwork from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Upwork from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Upwork from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upwork in the third quarter valued at about $858,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 133.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 66,842 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Upwork by 40.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 251,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,630,000 after purchasing an additional 73,104 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Upwork during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,369,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Upwork by 2,216.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 503,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,263,000 after purchasing an additional 481,942 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.