Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $635,000 Position in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 57,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Upwork by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,231,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,166,000 after buying an additional 5,893,970 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,989,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,086,000 after acquiring an additional 322,455 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,537,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,569,000 after acquiring an additional 23,900 shares during the last quarter. Ancient Art L.P. raised its position in shares of Upwork by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancient Art L.P. now owns 4,640,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,981,000 after acquiring an additional 372,147 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Upwork by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,585,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,071,000 after acquiring an additional 576,512 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on UPWK. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Upwork from $25.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.50.

Insider Activity

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $74,727.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 341,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,784,113.35. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total value of $191,264.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 797,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,499,584.25. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 worth $276,391 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $8.87 on Wednesday. Upwork Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.44 and a 12 month high of $22.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.99.

About Upwork

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.