Short Interest in Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) Drops By 25.2%

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,520,000 shares, a decline of 25.2% from the May 15th total of 6,040,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insider Activity at Coursera

In related news, Director Amanda Clark sold 9,334 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.48, for a total value of $79,152.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,573 shares in the company, valued at $725,659.04. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sabrina Simmons sold 9,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.48, for a total transaction of $79,160.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 50,215 shares in the company, valued at $425,823.20. This trade represents a 15.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,770 shares of company stock worth $211,087. 16.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coursera by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 38,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 12,749 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Coursera by 582.9% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 213,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 182,453 shares during the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Coursera during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $635,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Coursera by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 260,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 42,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Coursera by 340.9% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 273,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 211,191 shares during the last quarter. 89.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coursera Stock Performance

NYSE COUR opened at $8.27 on Friday. Coursera has a one year low of $5.76 and a one year high of $11.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.39 and a 200 day moving average of $8.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.22 and a beta of 1.38.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $179.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.60 million. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 7.22% and a negative net margin of 9.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Coursera will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COUR shares. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Coursera in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (up from $10.00) on shares of Coursera in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.40.

About Coursera

Coursera, Inc operates an online educational content platform in the United States, Europe, Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees. The company offers guided projects, courses, and specializations, as well as online degrees; and certificates for entry-level professional, non-entry level professional, university, and MasterTrack.