Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on AZTA. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Azenta currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.33.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $28.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.27 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.83. Azenta has a 52-week low of $23.91 and a 52-week high of $54.20.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.02). The firm 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%.Azenta’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Azenta will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Azenta by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Azenta by 482.7% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 57,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 47,824 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Azenta by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 58,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in Azenta by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,072,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,656,000 after purchasing an additional 106,177 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Azenta by 90,073.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 170,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,668,000 after buying an additional 170,238 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

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.