Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) Trading 5.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

Neogen Co. (NASDAQ:NEOG) shares shot up 5.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.93 and last traded at $8.93. 1,404,961 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 2,148,215 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on NEOG. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $16.50) on shares of Neogen in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Neogen in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company.

Neogen Stock Down 3.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.95 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.76.

Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $231.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.16 million. Neogen had a positive return on equity of 2.89% and a negative net margin of 52.12%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Neogen Co. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Neogen

In other Neogen news, CFO David H. Naemura bought 14,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.11 per share, for a total transaction of $164,428.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,531.74. The trade was a 31.74 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John Edward Adent purchased 23,035 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.03 per share, for a total transaction of $254,076.05. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 269,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,968,878.92. This represents a 9.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Connable Office Inc. boosted its holdings in Neogen by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 18,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Neogen by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Neogen by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Neogen by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 14,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Neogen by 196.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 2,233 shares during the last quarter. 96.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Neogen

Neogen Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of various products and services dedicated to food and animal safety worldwide. It operates through two segments, Food Safety and Animal Safety. The Food Safety segment offers diagnostic test kits and related products to detect dangerous and unintended substances in food and animal feed, including foodborne pathogens, spoilage organisms, natural toxins, food allergens, genetic modifications, ruminant by-products, meat speciation, drug residues, pesticide residues, and general sanitation concerns; and AccuPoint Advanced rapid sanitation test to detect the presence of adenosine triphosphate, a chemical found in living cells, as well as provides genomics-based diagnostic technology and software systems that help testers to objectively analyze and store their results and perform analysis on the results from multiple locations over extended periods.