Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Coursera from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Coursera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.50.

Coursera Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE COUR opened at $5.37 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.91. Coursera has a 12-month low of $5.00 and a 12-month high of $13.56. The firm has a market cap of $908.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.23.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). Coursera had a negative return on equity of 5.41% and a negative net margin of 8.23%.The company had revenue of $195.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Coursera will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coursera announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, May 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 55.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Coursera

In other Coursera news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.52, for a total value of $50,447.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 255,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,412,755.68. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, Llc sold 1,466,372 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $7,683,789.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 419,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,199,668.16. This represents a 77.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, 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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COUR. Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new stake in Coursera in the first quarter worth $61,178,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in Coursera by 97.0% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 14,590,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,167 shares during the period. Mak Capital One LLC bought a new position in Coursera in the 4th quarter worth $27,610,000. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Coursera by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd now owns 12,052,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,708,000 after purchasing an additional 2,739,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Coursera by 341.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,955,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,612,000 after purchasing an additional 2,286,395 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.55% of the company’s stock.

Coursera Company Profile

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.