New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) Rating Lowered to "Neutral" at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group has downgraded New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a "buy" to a "neutral" rating, with a reduced target price of $50.00.
• Despite the downgrade, the stock’s target price suggests a potential upside of 7.18% from its previous close.
• New Oriental Education recently reported a 9.4% year-over-year increase in revenue, surpassing analysts' expectations with earnings of $0.61 EPS.

The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $50.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $58.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on EDU. Wall Street Zen upgraded New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $48.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup raised shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised New Oriental Education & Technology Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, New Oriental Education & Technology Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.60.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:EDU traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,179,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,918,474. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.82 and a 200-day moving average of $48.28. New Oriental Education & Technology Group has a 1 year low of $40.66 and a 1 year high of $87.26.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Oriental Education & Technology Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Beijing Investment Ltd grew its stake in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 1,997.8% during the 1st quarter. First Beijing Investment Ltd now owns 5,456,378 shares of the company's stock worth $260,869,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,281 shares during the period. Aspex Management HK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd now owns 7,454,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $478,456,000 after purchasing an additional 2,701,566 shares during the period. Discerene Group LP purchased a new stake in New Oriental Education & Technology Group during the first quarter worth $75,564,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,894,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,952,000 after buying an additional 1,480,391 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,539,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $291,357,000 after buying an additional 1,437,656 shares in the last quarter.

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.