75,596 Shares in Upwork Inc. $UPWK Purchased by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 75,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Upwork by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 32,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Straightline Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Upwork by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Straightline Group LLC now owns 39,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 4.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 24,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Upwork by 11.0% during the first quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 594.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares during the period. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UPWK. Wall Street Zen lowered Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Upwork from $25.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Upwork from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Upwork from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 341,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,784,113.35. This trade represents a 2.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 Upwork stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total value of $191,264.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 797,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,499,584.25. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,913 shares of company stock worth $276,391. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Upwork Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPWK opened at $8.96 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.67 and a 200-day moving average of $12.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.99. Upwork Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.44 and a twelve month high of $22.84.

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.