Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Receives $41.33 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.3333.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, December 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZTA. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 2,067.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Azenta by 249.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Azenta by 44.9% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Azenta by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of Azenta stock opened at $19.90 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.44. The firm has a market cap of $916.59 million, a P/E ratio of -14.74 and a beta of 1.39. Azenta has a 12 month low of $19.87 and a 12 month high of $41.73.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $148.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.89 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.43% and a negative net margin of 10.34%.The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Azenta will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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

About Azenta

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.