Coursera (NYSE:COUR) Shares Climb 9.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) shares were up 9.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $3.77 and last traded at $3.7950. 4,113,561 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 6,100,749 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.47.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Coursera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $5.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Coursera from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Coursera from $7.00 to $4.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 30th. KeyCorp cut shares of Coursera from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Coursera from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coursera presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coursera

In other news, SVP Alan Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.71, for a total transaction of $52,183.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 236,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,348,913.27. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gregory Hart sold 10,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.11, for a total transaction of $52,673.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,539,003 shares in the company, valued at $7,864,305.33. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 29,752 shares of company stock valued at $141,853 over the last three months. 16.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Coursera News

Here are the key news stories impacting Coursera this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded Coursera from “Hold” to “Strong Buy,” a more optimistic recommendation that may bolster investor sentiment. Zacks Research ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: A Goldman Sachs “Hold” rating points to a wait-and-see stance rather than a strong near-term endorsement. Goldman Sachs rating
• Neutral Sentiment: An article argues COUR may be 53% undervalued, but also notes sales growth alongside widening losses, leaving the valuation case dependent on future profitability. Article on sales, losses, and valuation
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Gregory Hart sold 10,305 shares for about $37,000, a 0.67% reduction in his direct holdings. The sale is relatively small, and he still owns more than 1.5 million shares, but insider selling may weigh on sentiment. Insider sale report
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst expectations remain cautious: Coursera’s consensus price target was reportedly cut nearly 30% to $5.67, while KeyCorp maintained “Sector Weight” and projected a FY2027 loss of $0.22 per share. Price target report

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coursera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in Coursera in the first quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Coursera by 63.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Coursera by 299.7% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Coursera in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Coursera during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 89.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coursera Stock Up 5.8%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.26.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $376.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.52 million. Coursera had a positive return on equity of 3.47% and a negative net margin of 14.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 94.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Coursera, Inc. will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coursera Company Profile

Coursera, Inc is an online learning platform that provides access to courses, professional certificates, guided projects, and degree programs. The company works with universities, colleges, and industry partners to offer content in areas such as business, technology, data science, computer science, and personal development.

Coursera serves individual learners, businesses, governments, and academic institutions in countries around the world. Its enterprise and government offerings support employee training, workforce development, and large-scale education initiatives, while its consumer platform allows learners to enroll in individual courses or broader credential and degree programs.

Coursera was founded in 2012 by computer-science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller.