Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $69.00. The stock had previously closed at $54.07, but opened at $51.15. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Azenta shares last traded at $49.53, with a volume of 87,243 shares traded.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AZTA. B. Riley raised their target price on Azenta from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Azenta in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Azenta from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZTA. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Azenta by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 74,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,497,000 after buying an additional 4,739 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Azenta by 9.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in Azenta by 384.5% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,395 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Azenta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $615,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Azenta Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -174.41 and a beta of 1.51.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $159.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.89 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 0.49% and a negative net margin of 2.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.06) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Azenta Company Profile

Azenta, Inc provides biological and chemical compound sample exploration and management solutions for the life sciences market in North America, Africa, China, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates in two reportable segments, Life Sciences Products and Life Sciences Services.