New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE:EDU) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE:EDU) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,150,000 shares, an increase of 12.2% from the May 15th total of 5,480,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC started coverage on shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on New Oriental Education & Technology Group from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on New Oriental Education & Technology Group from $66.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.75.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Stock Performance

Shares of EDU traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.18. 1,324,641 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,194,288. The stock has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.53. New Oriental Education & Technology Group has a 1 year low of $36.22 and a 1 year high of $98.20.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. New Oriental Education & Technology Group had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 8.11%. On average, analysts forecast that New Oriental Education & Technology Group will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EDU. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 1,642.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 610 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $200,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group in the 1st quarter worth $231,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in New Oriental Education & Technology Group in the 4th quarter worth $235,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in New Oriental Education & Technology Group during the fourth quarter valued at $240,000.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Company Profile

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc provides private educational services under the New Oriental brand in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through four segments: Educational Services and Test Preparation Courses; Online Education and Other Services; Overseas Study Consulting Services; and Educational Materials and Distribution.