TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) Stock Moved Down to Hold by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on TAL. New Street Research set a $13.60 price target on TAL Education Group in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised TAL Education Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded TAL Education Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on TAL Education Group in a research note on Friday, July 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.80.

TAL Education Group Price Performance

TAL Education Group stock opened at $10.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.90 and its 200-day moving average is $11.06. TAL Education Group has a fifty-two week low of $8.88 and a fifty-two week high of $13.37.

TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.46. TAL Education Group had a net margin of 28.43% and a return on equity of 24.55%. The company had revenue of $758.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $719.40 million. As a group, analysts expect that TAL Education Group will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alex Peng sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.28, for a total value of $368,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,968.32. This represents a 66.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TAL Education Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TAL. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of TAL Education Group by 13.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 16,781,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,071 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in TAL Education Group by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,395,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,549 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in TAL Education Group by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,187,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,504,000 after purchasing an additional 137,799 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in TAL Education Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,010,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in TAL Education Group by 81.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,096,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,494,000 after purchasing an additional 490,836 shares during the last quarter. 37.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TAL Education Group Company Profile

TAL Education Group is a Chinese education services provider that offers learning programs, educational content and related services for students. Its offerings have included tutoring and enrichment programs in subjects such as mathematics, science, Chinese and English, along with online learning tools, educational technology and other products designed to support students, parents and teachers.

The company was founded in 2003 as Xueersi and later adopted the name TAL Education Group. It historically operated a network of learning centers and online platforms serving students in China, with a focus on primary and secondary education.