Barings LLC Sells 158,825 Shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE:EDU)

Key Points

• Barings LLC significantly reduced its holdings in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 68.7%, owning 72,337 shares after selling 158,825 shares during the first quarter.
• New Oriental Education recently reported earnings of $0.61 EPS, exceeding forecasts of $0.24, with a revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter.
• Analyst ratings are mixed, with two upgrades to "buy" and one downgrade to "hold," leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.00.

Barings LLC lowered its holdings in New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE:EDU - Free Report) by 68.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,337 shares of the company's stock after selling 158,825 shares during the period. Barings LLC's holdings in New Oriental Education & Technology Group were worth $3,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EDU. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 258.5% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 441 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in New Oriental Education & Technology Group during the first quarter worth $54,000. Natixis increased its position in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 881 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas acquired a new position in New Oriental Education & Technology Group during the fourth quarter worth $113,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on EDU shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. HSBC downgraded shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised New Oriental Education & Technology Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.60.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Trading Down 0.9%

EDU stock traded down $0.43 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.19. 761,883 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,560,401. New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.66 and a twelve month high of $87.26. The company has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.39.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.37. New Oriental Education & Technology Group had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 7.59%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

About New Oriental Education & Technology Group

New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of private educational services. It operates through the following segments: Educational Services and Test Preparation Courses, Private Label Products and Livestreaming E-Commerce, Overseas Study Consulting Services, and Educational Materials and Distribution.