New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) Sees Strong Trading Volume on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE:EDU) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. Approximately 1,418,332 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the previous session’s volume of 1,881,367 shares.The stock last traded at $62.02 and had previously closed at $67.13.

The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. New Oriental Education & Technology Group had a net margin of 7.18% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from $127.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $83.00 price objective on shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Oriental Education & Technology Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EDU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in New Oriental Education & Technology Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $103,392,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 139.0% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,231,000 after purchasing an additional 854,590 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 147.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 731,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,880,000 after purchasing an additional 436,098 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 211.7% in the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 553,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,058,000 after purchasing an additional 376,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WT Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 21.4% in the second quarter. WT Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,730,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,533,000 after purchasing an additional 304,712 shares in the last quarter.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $67.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of 32.89 and a beta of 0.47.

About New Oriental Education & Technology Group

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.