Pale Fire Capital SE Buys 9,921,347 Shares of Coursera, Inc. $COUR

Key Points

• Pale Fire Capital SE nearly doubled its Coursera stake, buying 9.92 million additional shares in the second quarter. It now owns 20.43 million shares, or 7.73% of Coursera, valued at approximately $115.2 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 89.55%, with BlackRock and Caledonia Private Investments initiating sizable positions and Vanguard increasing its stake.
• Coursera reported quarterly revenue of $298.6 million, up 59.6% year over year, and EPS of $0.17 versus the $0.10 consensus estimate. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $8.55, while the stock recently traded near $6.13.

Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its stake in Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR - Free Report) by 94.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,432,950 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,921,347 shares during the quarter. Coursera comprises about 3.1% of Pale Fire Capital SE's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Pale Fire Capital SE owned 7.73% of Coursera worth $115,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Coursera during the second quarter worth $116,245,000. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Coursera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $114,918,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Coursera by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,116,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,619,000 after buying an additional 2,195,148 shares during the period. Mak Capital One LLC purchased a new position in Coursera in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,610,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coursera by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,359,248 shares of the company's stock worth $24,729,000 after acquiring an additional 106,287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on COUR shares. Wall Street Zen cut Coursera from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Coursera from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Coursera in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research cut Coursera from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Coursera from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $5.50 to $6.50 in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Coursera presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $8.55.

Coursera Trading Down 0.8%

Coursera stock opened at $6.13 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.26. Coursera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.00 and a 12-month high of $12.32.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.07. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 15.39%.The firm had revenue of $298.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. Coursera's revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Coursera, Inc. will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coursera declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, May 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 55.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.71, for a total value of $52,183.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 236,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,348,913.27. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 16.30% 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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