Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on COUR. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Coursera from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Coursera from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Coursera from $7.00 to $4.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Coursera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $8.00 to $5.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Coursera from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.36.

Coursera Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:COUR opened at $3.73 on Monday. Coursera has a 52-week low of $3.45 and a 52-week high of $8.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.67. The company has a market capitalization of $984.89 million, a PE ratio of -5.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.26.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $376.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.52 million. Coursera had a negative net margin of 14.35% and a positive return on equity of 3.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 94.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Coursera will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Alan Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.71, for a total transaction of $52,183.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 236,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,348,913.27. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Pale Fire Capital Se purchased 1,332,742 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.06 per share, for a total transaction of $6,743,674.52. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 27,806,415 shares in the company, valued at $140,700,459.90. The trade was a 5.03% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,752 shares of company stock worth $141,853. 16.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coursera

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COUR. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Coursera in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ethic Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coursera in the third quarter worth $98,000. StoneX Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coursera in the third quarter worth $120,000. LightSquare Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Coursera during the 3rd quarter worth $91,000. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Coursera during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,175,000. 89.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Coursera

Here are the key news stories impacting Coursera this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Coursera’s latest reported quarter exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.21 versus $0.18 expected and revenue of $376.7 million versus $368.5 million expected. Revenue rose sharply year over year, though the company remained loss-making on a net-margin basis.
• Positive Sentiment: A market roundup said Coursera shares had “skyrocketed,” but did not explain the catalyst. Read the article
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman Sachs assigned Coursera a “Hold” rating, signaling a wait-and-see stance rather than a strong near-term endorsement. Read the article
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst expectations have weakened: Coursera’s consensus price target was reportedly cut nearly 30% to $5.67. Other recent reports cited lower targets and rating downgrades, including a shift by JPMorgan to Neutral. Read the article
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp’s estimates project a loss for FY2027, despite a small expected profit in FY2026, raising concern about the durability of profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Gregory Hart sold 10,305 shares for about $37,000. The sale reduced his direct holdings by 0.67%, and he still owns more than 1.5 million shares, so its significance may be limited. Read the article

About Coursera

Coursera, Inc is an online learning platform that provides access to courses, professional certificates, guided projects, and degree programs. The company works with universities, colleges, and industry partners to offer content in areas such as business, technology, data science, computer science, and personal development.

Coursera serves individual learners, businesses, governments, and academic institutions in countries around the world. Its enterprise and government offerings support employee training, workforce development, and large-scale education initiatives, while its consumer platform allows learners to enroll in individual courses or broader credential and degree programs.

Coursera was founded in 2012 by computer-science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller.