2U (NASDAQ:TWOU) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of 2U (NASDAQ:TWOU) in a research note issued on Friday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the software maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on TWOU. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of 2U from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 2U from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, 2U presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.31.

2U Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TWOU opened at $0.24 on Friday. 2U has a 1-year low of $0.23 and a 1-year high of $6.10. The company has a market cap of $20.10 million, a PE ratio of -0.06 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $0.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $0.97.

2U (NASDAQ:TWOU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The software maker reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $255.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.84 million. 2U had a negative return on equity of 7.92% and a negative net margin of 33.58%. As a group, equities analysts expect that 2U will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of 2U

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in 2U by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,331,482 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after buying an additional 438,007 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of 2U in the 4th quarter worth approximately $399,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 2U by 76.1% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 627,394 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 271,133 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 2U by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,759,732 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 225,253 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of 2U by 131.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 126,320 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 71,696 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.53% of the company’s stock.

2U Company Profile

2U, Inc operates as an online education platform company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Degree Program and Alternative Credential. The Degree Program segment provides the technology and services to nonprofit colleges and universities to enable the online delivery of degree programs.