Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Given New $44.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) had its price target upped by Needham & Company LLC from $42.00 to $44.00 in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on AZTA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Azenta Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $34.43 on Friday. Azenta has a fifty-two week low of $23.91 and a fifty-two week high of $55.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of -26.48 and a beta of 1.29.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 21st. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.40%. The company had revenue of $159.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Azenta will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Azenta announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 14.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mechanics Financial Corp grew its position in Azenta by 77.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Azenta by 249.5% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Azenta by 44.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 41.6% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 113.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Azenta Company Profile

Azenta, Inc (NASDAQ: AZTA) is a life sciences technology company specializing in sample management, cryogenic storage and genomic services for research and clinical applications. Formerly the Life Sciences division of Brooks Automation, Azenta provides integrated solutions that enable customers to store, track and analyze biological samples with high levels of automation, data integrity and efficiency. Its offerings span automated storage systems, biorepository management software and end‐to‐end sample tracking workflows.

In addition to hardware and informatics platforms for sample storage, Azenta’s Genomics business delivers next‐generation sequencing (NGS), DNA synthesis, and molecular biology services.