Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU)

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE:EDU) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 1,855 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 115% compared to the typical daily volume of 862 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Oriental Education & Technology Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aspex Management HK Ltd raised its position in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd now owns 4,753,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513,640 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 20,215.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 994,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,418,000 after buying an additional 989,536 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 139.0% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,231,000 after acquiring an additional 854,590 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 192.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 826,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,703,000 after acquiring an additional 543,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in New Oriental Education & Technology Group by 147.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 731,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,880,000 after acquiring an additional 436,098 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EDU has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded New Oriental Education & Technology Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Macquarie downgraded New Oriental Education & Technology Group from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded New Oriental Education & Technology Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.40.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE EDU traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.40. 1,669,052 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,057,776. New Oriental Education & Technology Group has a 52 week low of $44.46 and a 52 week high of $98.20. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82 and a beta of 0.44.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.27. New Oriental Education & Technology Group had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. New Oriental Education & Technology Group’s quarterly revenue was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that New Oriental Education & Technology Group will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.