Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) Trading Down 4.9% – Time to Sell?

Neogen Co. (NASDAQ:NEOG) traded down 4.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $11.28 and last traded at $11.36. 538,078 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 3,234,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Neogen to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price (down previously from $16.50) on shares of Neogen in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Neogen in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock.

Neogen Trading Down 3.7 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.77 and a quick ratio of 2.46. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 1.23.

Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.12. Neogen had a positive return on equity of 2.89% and a negative net margin of 52.12%. The company had revenue of $231.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Neogen Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Neogen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NEOG. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Neogen by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 15,530,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914,893 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Neogen by 148.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,109,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,229,000 after buying an additional 2,454,566 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in Neogen by 86.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,986,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,017,000 after buying an additional 1,849,427 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Neogen by 24.5% during the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,706,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711,238 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Neogen in the second quarter valued at about $19,338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.73% of the company’s stock.

Neogen Company Profile

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.