Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Position in Neogen Co. (NASDAQ:NEOG)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Neogen Co. (NASDAQ:NEOG - Free Report) by 20.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,515 shares of the company's stock after selling 64,993 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.12% of Neogen worth $3,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Neogen by 142.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Neogen by 196.7% in the 4th 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 period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Neogen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Neogen by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,379 shares during the period. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Neogen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NEOG shares. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down previously from $16.50) on shares of Neogen in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Neogen in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock.

Neogen Price Performance

Neogen stock remained flat at $10.04 during mid-day trading on Friday. 1,570,517 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,711,871. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.58 and a beta of 1.23. Neogen Co. has a 12 month low of $9.70 and a 12 month high of $18.58. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $11.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.02.

Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $231.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.16 million. Neogen had a negative net margin of 52.12% and a positive return on equity of 2.89%. The company's revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Neogen Co. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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