Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Receives $41.83 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.8333.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Azenta from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in Azenta in the 4th quarter valued at $42,755,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 41.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,698,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,783,000 after acquiring an additional 499,216 shares during the period. Scopia Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Azenta during the third quarter valued at $14,026,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Azenta by 192.0% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 713,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,975,000 after acquiring an additional 469,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Azenta by 35.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,345,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,725,000 after purchasing an additional 350,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of AZTA opened at $39.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of -30.70 and a beta of 1.32. Azenta has a 1 year low of $23.91 and a 1 year high of $55.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.26.

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

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

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.