Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) Receives $8.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.5455.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $7.50 price objective on shares of Coursera in a research report on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Coursera from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $5.50 to $6.50 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Coursera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised Coursera from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th.

Coursera Stock Performance

COUR stock opened at $5.79 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $5.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $979.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.63, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.24. Coursera has a fifty-two week low of $5.00 and a fifty-two week high of $12.35.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.07. Coursera had a negative net margin of 15.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. The company had revenue of $298.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Coursera will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coursera declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, May 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 55.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Coursera

In other news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 255,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,412,755.68. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, Llc sold 1,466,372 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $7,683,789.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 419,784 shares in the company, valued at $2,199,668.16. This trade represents a 77.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,009,139 shares of company stock worth $10,643,180 over the last quarter. 16.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coursera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COUR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Coursera during the second quarter worth about $116,245,000. Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new stake in shares of Coursera in the 1st quarter valued at about $61,178,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted 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 valued at $107,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,167 shares during the period. Mak Capital One LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coursera in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,610,000. Finally, Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd grew its stake in Coursera by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd now owns 12,052,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,708,000 after buying an additional 2,739,039 shares during the last quarter. 89.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.