Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $1.30 Million Holdings in Coursera, Inc. $COUR

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Coursera stake by 42.8% in Q1, leaving it with 223,085 shares worth about $1.3 million.
• Coursera’s stock rose 6.1% to open at $5.99, while the company reported mixed quarterly results: EPS missed estimates by $0.01, but revenue came in slightly above expectations and rose 9.1% year over year.
• Coursera’s board approved a $500 million share buyback program, even as insiders, including major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, recently sold shares; analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with a $9.12 target price.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR - Free Report) by 42.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,085 shares of the company's stock after selling 167,209 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.13% of Coursera worth $1,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Coursera by 97.0% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 14,590,942 shares of the company's stock worth $107,389,000 after acquiring an additional 7,184,167 shares during the period. Mak Capital One LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coursera during the fourth quarter worth $27,610,000. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Coursera by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd now owns 12,052,670 shares of the company's stock worth $88,708,000 after buying an additional 2,739,039 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Coursera by 341.6% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,955,723 shares of the company's stock worth $34,612,000 after buying an additional 2,286,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coursera by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,116,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,195,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COUR. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Coursera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered Coursera from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Coursera from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on Coursera from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.12.

Coursera Trading Up 6.1%

NYSE:COUR opened at $5.99 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.13. Coursera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $5.00 and a 12 month high of $13.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Coursera declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, May 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 55.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coursera news, major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, Llc sold 1,466,372 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $7,683,789.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 419,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,199,668.16. This trade represents a 77.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.52, for a total transaction of $50,447.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 255,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,412,755.68. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,009,139 shares of company stock valued at $10,643,180. 16.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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