Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Trading Up 7.9% – What’s Next?

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) traded up 7.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $5.98 and last traded at $5.8360. 2,297,332 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 5,694,227 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COUR has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coursera in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Coursera from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $7.50 price target on shares of Coursera in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.50.

Coursera Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.75 and a beta of 1.25.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $195.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Coursera, Inc. will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Coursera announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, May 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 55.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coursera

In other news, major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, Llc sold 1,466,372 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were 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 $2,199,668.16. This represents a 77.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.52, for a total transaction of $50,447.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 255,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,412,755.68. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,009,139 shares of company stock worth $10,643,180. Company insiders own 16.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coursera

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Coursera by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,116,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,619,000 after buying an additional 2,195,148 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Coursera by 97.0% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 14,590,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,389,000 after acquiring an additional 7,184,167 shares in the last quarter. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Coursera by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd now owns 12,052,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,739,039 shares in the last quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new stake in shares of Coursera during the first quarter valued at approximately $61,178,000. Finally, Mak Capital One LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coursera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,610,000. 89.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.