Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Shares Up 8.4% – Should You Buy?

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) shot up 8.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $5.63 and last traded at $5.7250. 823,756 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 5,253,342 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COUR has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Coursera from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Coursera from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Coursera from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.50.

Coursera Stock Down 5.9%

The company has a market cap of $913.20 million, a PE ratio of -14.19 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.89 and a 200-day moving average of $6.73.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). Coursera had a negative return on equity of 5.41% and a negative net margin of 8.23%.The business had revenue of $195.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. Coursera’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Coursera, Inc. will post -0.09 EPS for the current year.

Coursera declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the firm’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 value of $50,447.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 255,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,412,755.68. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 16.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coursera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Coursera by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,022,000 after purchasing an additional 357,264 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Coursera by 97.0% during 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 last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC bought a new position in shares of Coursera during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,576,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in shares of Coursera by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,084,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,982,000 after buying an additional 398,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coursera by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,161,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,607,000 after buying an additional 332,409 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.55% of the company’s stock.

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.