New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) Lowered to Neutral Rating by 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.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $50.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $58.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.25% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on EDU. Citigroup raised 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 note on Friday, June 27th. Hsbc Global Res raised New Oriental Education & Technology Group 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 upped their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. 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, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.60.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Stock Performance

NYSE EDU opened at $46.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.38. New Oriental Education & Technology Group has a one year low of $40.66 and a one year high of $87.26.

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

Institutional Trading of New Oriental Education & Technology Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 258.5% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 441 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in New Oriental Education & Technology Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Natixis boosted its holdings in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 881 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 738.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 905 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group during the first quarter worth approximately $54,000.

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.