How To Invest In Coursera Stock

As online learning continues to explode in popularity, the online course provider Coursera offers one of the most intriguing investing opportunities in the space.

Coursera, Inc. (COUR) is an online educational content platform for learners, educators, and institutions. It offers a broad spectrum of online courses, including data science, computer science, IT, business, health, social sciences, project management, digital marketing services, and much more.

The platform works with accredited universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and even degrees in a wide array of subjects.

Coursera is based in the United States and was founded in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, two former Stanford computer science professors.

Coursera Stock Fundamentals

If you are a Coursera user, you may think to yourself, “well, I know and love the platform. It seems quite effective. It must be a good investment.”

But, it’s critically important to remember that knowing a company as a user does not equate to knowing it as an investor. Two types of research are needed:

1. Quantitative Research: Looking at revenue, net income, earnings, margins and so on.
2. Qualitative Research: Evaluating the competition, management, and how Coursera makes money.

As part of your research, Coursera’s annual and quarterly reports outline key information about the company’s operations, income sources, expenses, and financial results. Its price-to-earnings ratio, dividend yield, and growth rate provide insight into valuation and income opportunities.

You can find these reports on Courser’s investor relations page. Let’s take a look at a few key findings from the company’s Q3 2021 Report:

• Revenue grew 33% year-over-year — total revenue was $109.9 million, up from $82.7 million the year before.
• Large-scale re-skilling efforts (largely due to pandemic) drove Enterprise growth 75% year-over-year.
• Gross profit was $67.7 million — 61.6% of revenue — that’s up 55% from the year prior.
• Revenue for the full fiscal year 2021 was in the range of $409 to $413 million.

How Coursera Stock Fits into Your Portfolio

Once your research is complete, and your interest is still piqued, it’s important to consider how the stock will fit into the rest of your portfolio of investments.

Investing is all about diversification and asset allocation — in a nutshell, spreading your money across different sectors and securities in order to mitigate risk and maximize returns.

For this reason, it’s considered high-risk — and unwise — to invest your entire portfolio into a single stock because one bad financial quarter for the company can tank your entire portfolio. Worse still, an accounting scandal or fraud could blow up your account.

When you diversify your portfolio across several companies, industries, and even geographical locations, you lower that risk.

So, before you invest in Coursera, you must consider what other investments you own and how Coursera will fit into the mix. For example, if your entire portfolio is made up of education stocks, Coursera might not be the best fit because if the industry takes a hit, there goes your entire portfolio. You should seek out stocks that will balance out the other investments you own.

How Many Shares of Coursera Can You Afford to Invest in?

Let’s say you have $1,000 to invest. You may think that you should put all of that into Coursera shares, but is that the best idea?

First, you’ll need to find out how many shares of Coursera $1,000 can get you by taking a look at real-time COUR share price, which you can do on your online broker’s website by searching for Coursera’s ticker symbol: COUR.

Buying as many shares as your $1,000 (or whatever your budget is) will get you may not be the best decision. First, you should consider:

1. How your investment amount will impact your portfolio’s balance. Wise investors try to build and keep a diversified portfolio without investing too much in one type of asset or company. A general rule of thumb is to not have more than 3% of your portfolio invested in one stock.
2. Your short-term goals. The stock market has been proven to be a long-term investment, so if you’ve got ambitious short-term goals, you might want to consider another investment avenue. Also, don’t forget to consider whether you have enough cash to put away in case of a rainy day or emergency. Most financial experts recommend having enough in savings to cover three to six months of expenses.
3. Your long-term investment plan. A popular investment strategy called dollar-cost averaging focuses on making regular investments over time. This strategy helps ensure investors don’t pour all of their money into the market when prices are high. Remember, you can always make future investments into Coursera stock — or any other company. You don’t have to dump all of your funds at one time. 

How To Buy Coursera Stock

If you’ve done all of your research and you’re ready to take the plunge, here are the steps to follow:

1. Find a trading platform. You may already have one. In that case, you can skip this step. But if you’re brand new to investing in the stock market, you should find a reputable, easy-to-use platform that fits your goals and needs. Once you’ve settled on one you like, you’ll need to complete an application and open your account.
2. Once the application has been approved, it’s time to fund your account.
3. Now you’re ready to invest! Search for Coursera ticker symbol, COUR, on your brokerage platform and choose to…
4. Buy now or later. Purchase your desired number of Coursera shares with a market order or use a limit order to delay the investment until COUR reaches your desired price.
5. Once you’ve invested in Coursera, don’t forget to check in on your investment and track it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What percentage of the company is owned by insiders or institutions? 

Currently, insiders hold 8.277% of Coursera shares, and institutions hold 79.432%. 

How many people work for the company?

Coursera employs about 780 people.

When does the fiscal year end for Coursera? 

The fiscal year for Coursera — and most other publicly traded companies — ends in December.

Where is Coursera based? 

Coursera is based out of Mountain View, California.

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The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Financhill has a disclosure policy. This post may contain affiliate links or links from our sponsors.