Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on COUR. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Coursera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Coursera from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Coursera in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Coursera from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Coursera from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.55.

Coursera Stock Up 10.6%

Shares of COUR stock opened at $5.88 on Friday. Coursera has a fifty-two week low of $5.00 and a fifty-two week high of $12.93. The stock has a market cap of $994.81 million, a P/E ratio of -8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.83.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.07. Coursera had a negative net margin of 15.39% and a negative return on equity of 2.08%. The business had revenue of $298.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Coursera will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Coursera announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, May 18th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits 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.

Insider Activity at Coursera

In other Coursera news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were 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 directly owned 255,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,412,755.68. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, Llc sold 1,466,372 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 419,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,199,668.16. This represents a 77.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 2,009,139 shares of company stock valued at $10,643,180 over the last ninety days. 16.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coursera

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of Coursera by 97.0% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 14,590,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,389,000 after buying an additional 7,184,167 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its position in Coursera by 207.3% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 906,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 611,325 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Coursera by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,084,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,982,000 after acquiring an additional 398,920 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Coursera by 98.0% during the first quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 364,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 180,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Coursera by 273.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 331,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,929,000 after acquiring an additional 242,850 shares during the last quarter. 89.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.