Wall Street Zen Downgrades Coursera (NYSE:COUR) to Hold

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coursera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research lowered Coursera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Coursera from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $5.50 to $6.50 in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Coursera from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Coursera in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coursera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.55.

Coursera Stock Performance

Coursera stock opened at $6.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.75 and its 200-day moving average is $5.79. Coursera has a 1 year low of $5.00 and a 1 year high of $12.32. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.72, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.24.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $298.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.61 million. Coursera had a negative net margin of 15.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Coursera will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Coursera announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 18th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 55.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coursera

In other news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.71, for a total transaction of $52,183.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 236,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,348,913.27. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 16.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coursera during the second quarter valued at $116,245,000. Pale Fire Capital SE raised its stake in shares of Coursera by 94.4% during the second quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 20,432,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,242,000 after purchasing an additional 9,921,347 shares in the last quarter. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Coursera in the second quarter worth about $114,918,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Coursera by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,116,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,619,000 after purchasing an additional 2,195,148 shares during the period. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP grew its position in Coursera by 259.2% in the 2nd quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 4,027,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,713,000 after buying an additional 2,906,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.