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 strong trading volume on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 1,418,332 shares changed hands during 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.27. New Oriental Education & Technology Group had a net margin of 7.18% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $83.00 target price on shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from $127.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in New Oriental Education & Technology Group during the second quarter worth $43,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 782.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new stake in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group in the second quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 7.4% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.89 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $67.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.20.

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.