Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Coursera shares opened higher, rising from a prior close of $5.54 to $5.70 and last trading at $5.7150.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $8.55, although ratings range from Strong Buy to Sell.
• Coursera beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 59.6% year over year, while its board authorized a $500 million share-repurchase program; however, the company remains unprofitable and a major shareholder recently sold most of its stake.

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.54, but opened at $5.70. Coursera shares last traded at $5.7150, with a volume of 347,117 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on COUR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Coursera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $7.50 target price on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Coursera from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coursera currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $8.55.

Coursera Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.54, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.79.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.07. Coursera had a negative net margin of 15.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. The company had revenue of $298.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Coursera, Inc. will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Coursera announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, May 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 55.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coursera news, major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, Llc sold 1,466,372 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $7,683,789.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 419,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,199,668.16. The trade was a 77.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 16.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coursera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Coursera in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Coursera by 619.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,024 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 3,465 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Coursera by 224.1% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,939 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 3,415 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in Coursera in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in Coursera in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 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.

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