Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Coursera (NYSE:COUR)

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 6,382 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 324% compared to the typical volume of 1,504 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on COUR. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Coursera in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Coursera from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $12.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Coursera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, February 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coursera news, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.92, for a total value of $57,483.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 217,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,289,825.92. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 16.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coursera

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COUR. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Coursera by 769.3% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 13,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 11,724 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Coursera by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 426,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,138,000 after buying an additional 107,920 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coursera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $508,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coursera by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,737,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,147,000 after buying an additional 154,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Coursera by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 284,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after acquiring an additional 51,642 shares during the period. 89.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coursera Price Performance

COUR stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.49. 1,418,966 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,320,423. Coursera has a 1 year low of $5.47 and a 1 year high of $13.56. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of -20.93 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.59.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.06. Coursera had a negative net margin of 6.73% and a negative return on equity of 5.17%. The firm had revenue of $196.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Coursera will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

About Coursera

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.