Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Price Target Raised to $39.00 at TD Cowen

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) had its price objective increased by TD Cowen from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Azenta presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.83.

Azenta Price Performance

Azenta stock opened at $37.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of -28.85 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.96. Azenta has a one year low of $23.91 and a one year high of $55.63.

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

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mechanics Financial Corp grew its position in Azenta by 77.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 870 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Azenta by 41.6% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Azenta by 113.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

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.