Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 13.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,097,681 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,078 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.89% of Upwork worth $12,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 594.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Upwork by 379.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Upwork by 434.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Upwork during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Upwork by 19,361.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,485 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upwork Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of UPWK opened at $8.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.69 and a 200 day moving average of $12.09. Upwork Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.44 and a 52-week high of $22.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on UPWK. Roth Capital cut shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Upwork from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Upwork from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,468 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $191,264.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 797,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,499,584.25. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total transaction of $74,727.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 341,609 shares in the company, valued at $2,784,113.35. The trade was a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 33,913 shares of company stock worth $276,391 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Company Profile

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.