Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $7.94, but opened at $8.84. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $12.00 price target on the stock. Coursera shares last traded at $8.4950, with a volume of 1,431,843 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on COUR. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Coursera from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coursera in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Coursera in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coursera presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coursera

In related news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 8,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.17, for a total transaction of $65,997.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 237,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,943,054.76. This represents a 3.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michele M. Meyers sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.27, for a total value of $35,945.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 234,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,209.65. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 16.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coursera

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COUR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coursera by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,022,000 after buying an additional 357,264 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Coursera by 2.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,057,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,784,000 after buying an additional 77,044 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Coursera by 341.6% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,955,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,612,000 after buying an additional 2,286,395 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Coursera by 5.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,704,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,679,000 after acquiring an additional 151,000 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Coursera by 84.2% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,319,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.55% of the company’s stock.

Coursera Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.07 and a beta of 1.37.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 4.75% and a negative net margin of 6.19%.The business had revenue of $194.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.33 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. Coursera’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Coursera, Inc. will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coursera Company Profile

Coursera, Inc operates an online educational content platform in the United States, Europe, Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees. The company offers guided projects, courses, and specializations, as well as online degrees; and certificates for entry-level professional, non-entry level professional, university, and MasterTrack.