Renaissance Technologies LLC Cuts Holdings in Coursera, Inc. $COUR

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its position in shares of Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) by 29.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,385,193 shares of the company’s stock after selling 582,900 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.82% of Coursera worth $8,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COUR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Coursera by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 55,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 15,610 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coursera by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 581,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,875,000 after purchasing an additional 156,566 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Coursera by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 104,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 2,847 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Coursera during the first quarter worth about $273,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Coursera by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 277,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,431,000 after buying an additional 62,371 shares during the last quarter. 89.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COUR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Coursera from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Coursera in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Coursera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Coursera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.55.

Insider Activity at Coursera

In related news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 255,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,412,755.68. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, Llc sold 1,466,372 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was 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 owned 419,784 shares in the company, valued at $2,199,668.16. The trade was a 77.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,009,139 shares of company stock valued at $10,643,180 over the last 90 days. 16.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Coursera Stock Performance

COUR stock opened at $5.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $994.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.83. Coursera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.00 and a fifty-two week high of $12.93.

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

Coursera declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.