Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.8333.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Azenta from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Azenta from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZTA. Mechanics Financial Corp grew its holdings in Azenta by 77.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Azenta by 44.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Azenta by 12.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in Azenta by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 7,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Azenta Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Azenta stock opened at $40.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.77 and a beta of 1.32. Azenta has a 12-month low of $23.91 and a 12-month high of $55.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.79 and its 200-day moving average is $32.33.

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

Azenta declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.