2U (NASDAQ:TWOU) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

Analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of 2U (NASDAQ:TWOU) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the software maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC downgraded 2U from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on 2U from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, 2U currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.31.

2U Trading Down 9.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TWOU opened at $0.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $0.52 and a 200 day moving average of $1.21. The company has a market cap of $29.29 million, a PE ratio of -0.09 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.09. 2U has a 12-month low of $0.31 and a 12-month high of $6.92.

2U (NASDAQ:TWOU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The software maker reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.07). 2U had a negative return on equity of 7.92% and a negative net margin of 33.58%. The business had revenue of $255.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.84 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that 2U will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TWOU. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of 2U by 55.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,461,914 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $19,415,000 after acquiring an additional 519,324 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 2U by 45.2% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 37,181 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 11,581 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in 2U during the 1st quarter valued at $662,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in 2U by 93.5% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 623,618 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $8,476,000 after buying an additional 301,269 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in 2U by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 18,800 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 1,496 shares during the period. 80.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About 2U

2U, Inc operates as an online education platform company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Degree Program and Alternative Credential. The Degree Program segment provides the technology and services to nonprofit colleges and universities to enable the online delivery of degree programs.