2U, Inc. (NASDAQ:TWOU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

2U, Inc. (NASDAQ:TWOU) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.31.

TWOU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on 2U from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of 2U in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of 2U in a report on Saturday, May 4th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

2U Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TWOU opened at $0.36 on Friday. 2U has a 1 year low of $0.23 and a 1 year high of $4.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.34 million, a P/E ratio of -0.09 and a beta of 0.93.

2U (NASDAQ:TWOU) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The software maker reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.07). 2U had a negative net margin of 35.13% and a negative return on equity of 10.90%. The business had revenue of $255.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.84 million. Equities analysts forecast that 2U will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TWOU. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in 2U by 14.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,759,732 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,347,000 after buying an additional 225,253 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in 2U by 49.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 438,007 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in 2U by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 836,251 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 50,366 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 2U by 76.1% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 627,394 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 271,133 shares during the period. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of 2U during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.53% of the company’s stock.

About 2U

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.