Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG)

Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ:NEOG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 12,840 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,200% compared to the average daily volume of 988 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Neogen

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEOG. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Neogen by 238.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 6,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 4,523 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Neogen by 816.9% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 6,764 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Neogen during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Neogen during the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Neogen by 3,158.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 8,054 shares during the period. 96.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Neogen in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Neogen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Neogen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Neogen in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (up from $6.50) on shares of Neogen in a report on Monday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.67.

Neogen Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Neogen stock opened at $9.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.40 and a beta of 1.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.84. Neogen has a 12-month low of $3.87 and a 12-month high of $11.43. The company has a current ratio of 3.91, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. Neogen had a positive return on equity of 2.14% and a negative net margin of 68.47%.The business had revenue of $224.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Neogen will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Neogen Company Profile

Neogen Corporation is a global provider of food and animal safety products, offering a broad portfolio of diagnostic and testing solutions. Headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, the company develops and manufactures tests designed to detect foodborne pathogens, allergens and toxins in food, beverage and environmental samples. Since its founding in 1982, Neogen has focused on delivering rapid, accurate and user‐friendly assays to food processors, grain handlers and quality laboratories around the world.

In the food safety arena, Neogen’s product lineup includes immunoassay kits, molecular diagnostics and enrichment media for pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria and E.