Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Stock

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Coursera (NYSE:COUR) from $11.00 to $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.98% from the current price.
• Coursera recently reported earnings of $0.12 per share, surpassing expectations, with revenue of $187.10 million, up 9.9% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors hold 89.55% of Coursera's stock, with several firms recently increasing their stakes in the company.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $11.00 to $12.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price indicates a potential downside of 0.54% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Coursera from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Coursera from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (up from $11.00) on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Coursera from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $7.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.25.

Coursera Trading Down 3.6%

NYSE COUR traded down $0.45 on Friday, hitting $12.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,106,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,127,277. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $8.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.16. Coursera has a 52-week low of $5.76 and a 52-week high of $13.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.56 and a beta of 1.36.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 7.05%. The firm had revenue of $187.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.09 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Coursera will post -0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 6,101 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.65, for a total transaction of $52,773.65. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,368 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,537,633.20. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Amanda Clark sold 9,334 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.48, for a total transaction of $79,152.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 85,573 shares in the company, valued at $725,659.04. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,770 shares of company stock valued at $211,087 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 16.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Coursera

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP increased its stake in Coursera by 1,848.6% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,131 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 3,919 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in Coursera by 959.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 3,520 shares during the period. Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new position in Coursera in the 1st quarter worth approximately $67,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new position in Coursera in the 1st quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coursera in the 1st quarter worth approximately $71,000. 89.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.