Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) Sees Large Volume Increase - Time to Buy?

Shares of Neogen Co. (NASDAQ:NEOG - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 6,860,551 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 142% from the previous session's volume of 2,832,247 shares.The stock last traded at $5.23 and had previously closed at $5.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Neogen from $6.40 to $5.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Neogen from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th.

Neogen Trading Up 11.7 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.50 and a 200-day moving average of $10.93. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of -2.63 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 3.77.

Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $221.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $225.27 million. Neogen had a negative net margin of 52.12% and a positive return on equity of 2.89%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Neogen Co. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James P. Tobin acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.73 per share, with a total value of $47,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,474 shares in the company, valued at $177,252.02. This trade represents a 36.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Amy M. Rocklin bought 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $62,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,287 shares in the company, valued at $181,072.13. This represents a 52.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 67,500 shares of company stock worth $331,525 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEOG. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Neogen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Neogen by 1,495.4% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Neogen by 196.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,368 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,233 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Neogen during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Neogen by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.73% of the company's stock.

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.

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