Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG)

Key Points

• Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ:NEOG) saw a significant increase in call options trading, with a total of 2,105 call options purchased, marking a 319% rise from its average daily volume.
• Several analysts have provided mixed ratings for Neogen, with the average rating being "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.33.
• Large institutional investors have recently increased their stakes in Neogen, with GAMMA Investing LLC notably raising its holdings by 4,700.8% in the first quarter.

Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ:NEOG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 2,105 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 319% compared to the average daily volume of 502 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NEOG shares. William Blair lowered Neogen from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. CJS Securities began coverage on Neogen in a research report on Monday, September 29th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised Neogen from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Neogen in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Neogen from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.33.

Neogen Stock Performance

Shares of NEOG traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $6.86. 2,245,572 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,567,134. Neogen has a fifty-two week low of $3.87 and a fifty-two week high of $16.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.36 and a beta of 1.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $5.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEOG. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Neogen by 4,700.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,675 shares of the company's stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 18,286 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in Neogen in the first quarter valued at about $153,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Neogen by 3.9% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 74,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 2,769 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Neogen in the first quarter valued at about $952,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Neogen by 212.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 107,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 73,071 shares in the last quarter. 96.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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