Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.50.

COUR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $7.50 price target on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Coursera from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Coursera from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th.

Coursera Stock Performance

NYSE COUR opened at $5.35 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.38. The stock has a market cap of $905.92 million, a PE ratio of -14.08 and a beta of 1.25. Coursera has a fifty-two week low of $5.00 and a fifty-two week high of $13.56.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $195.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.17 million. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 5.41% and a negative net margin of 8.23%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Coursera will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coursera declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, May 18th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 55.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.52, for a total transaction of $50,447.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 255,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,412,755.68. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, Llc sold 1,466,372 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $7,683,789.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 419,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,199,668.16. This trade represents a 77.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,009,139 shares of company stock worth $10,643,180. 16.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coursera

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COUR. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Coursera in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in Coursera in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Coursera by 224.1% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 3,415 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in Coursera in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Coursera by 619.9% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 3,465 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.55% of the company’s stock.

About Coursera

Coursera, Inc (NYSE:COUR) operates a leading online learning platform that delivers courses, specializations, professional certificates and fully accredited degree programs in collaboration with top universities and industry partners. Founded in 2012 by Stanford University professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, Coursera’s mission is to provide universal access to world-class education and bridge skill gaps in a rapidly evolving job market.

The platform features more than 6,000 offerings created by over 275 academic institutions and corporate entities, spanning fields such as data science, business, technology, health care and the arts.