Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Coursera (NYSE:COUR)

Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 5,610 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 137% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,371 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COUR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Coursera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Zacks Research downgraded Coursera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Coursera from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Coursera in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.55.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Pale Fire Capital Se purchased 1,332,742 shares of Coursera stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.06 per share, for a total transaction of $6,743,674.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,806,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,700,459.90. The trade was a 5.03% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Alan B. Cardenas sold 9,139 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 236,237 shares in the company, valued at $1,348,913.27. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 16.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Coursera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,887,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Coursera during the second quarter worth about $9,848,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in shares of Coursera in the second quarter worth approximately $1,579,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coursera in the second quarter worth approximately $3,262,000. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its stake in shares of Coursera by 94.4% in the second quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 20,432,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,242,000 after acquiring an additional 9,921,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.55% of the company’s stock.

Coursera Stock Performance

Shares of COUR traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $5.14. The stock had a trading volume of 626,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,974,491. Coursera has a 12 month low of $4.53 and a 12 month high of $11.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of -7.68, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $5.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.66.

Coursera (NYSE:COUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $298.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.61 million. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 15.39%.Coursera’s quarterly revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Coursera 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. Its offerings cover subjects including business, technology, data science, health, and the arts, and are delivered through a combination of on-demand and structured learning formats.

The company serves individual learners, businesses, universities, and government organizations. Coursera partners with universities and other educational institutions, as well as technology companies and industry organizations, to develop and distribute educational content.