Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on COUR. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Coursera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Coursera from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Coursera in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Coursera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.55.

Coursera Trading Up 2.7%

COUR stock opened at $6.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of -9.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.24. Coursera has a 12-month low of $5.00 and a 12-month high of $12.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.78.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $298.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.61 million. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 15.39%.The company’s revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Coursera will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity at Coursera

In related news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.71, for a total value of $52,183.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 236,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,348,913.27. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 16.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coursera

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COUR. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Coursera in the second quarter worth about $88,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Coursera by 1,089.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,546,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416,278 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP increased its holdings in Coursera by 259.2% in the 2nd quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 4,027,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,713,000 after acquiring an additional 2,906,101 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Coursera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Coursera during the second quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors 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.