Pale Fire Capital SE Purchases New Stake in Coursera, Inc. $COUR

Key Points

• Pale Fire Capital SE disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Coursera, buying 10.5 million shares valued at about $61.2 million. The position represents 5.2% of Pale Fire’s holdings and about 6.21% of Coursera.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: several firms kept or raised bullish targets, but Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to hold and Bank of America cut its target to $7. Overall, MarketBeat shows an average rating of Hold with a $8.50 average price target.
• Coursera recently reported revenue growth of 9.1% to $195.7 million, but earnings of $0.07 per share missed estimates by a penny. The company also authorized a $500 million share repurchase program, while insiders have been net sellers over the past 90 days.

Pale Fire Capital SE acquired a new position in shares of Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,511,603 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,178,000. Coursera makes up 5.2% of Pale Fire Capital SE's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Pale Fire Capital SE owned about 6.21% of Coursera at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Coursera by 97.0% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 14,590,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,167 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its stake in Coursera by 207.3% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 906,224 shares of the company's stock worth $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 611,325 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Coursera by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,084,567 shares of the company's stock worth $7,982,000 after purchasing an additional 398,920 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Coursera by 98.0% in the 1st quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 364,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 180,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Coursera in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,395,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Coursera from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Coursera from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $8.50.

Coursera Stock Performance

Coursera stock opened at $5.37 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $5.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.91. Coursera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.00 and a 1 year high of $13.56. The company has a market capitalization of $908.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.23.

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Insight Holdings Group, Llc sold 1,466,372 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.52, for a total value of $50,447.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 255,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,412,755.68. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,009,139 shares of company stock worth $10,643,180 over the last 90 days. 16.30% of the stock is owned by 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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