Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 27,567 Shares of Upwork Inc. $UPWK

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) by 5.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 537,261 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,567 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.41% of Upwork worth $9,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Straightline Group LLC lifted its position in Upwork by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Straightline Group LLC now owns 37,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Upwork by 546.8% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 137,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 115,857 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Upwork during the second quarter valued at $241,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 16.0% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 45,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 6,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 1,333.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 12,997 shares during the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UPWK. Wall Street Zen raised Upwork from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Upwork from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Upwork in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 18,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total transaction of $308,833.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 237,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,968,120.40. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 2,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.72, for a total value of $33,473.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,994.96. The trade was a 48.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 470,150 shares of company stock valued at $8,935,779 over the last three months. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Upwork Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ UPWK opened at $20.60 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.13 and a 12-month high of $22.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.20 and a 200 day moving average of $16.08.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). Upwork had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 31.63%.The business had revenue of $201.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Upwork has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Upwork Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Upwork declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, September 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Upwork 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.