Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $23.04 and last traded at $23.04, with a volume of 96066 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $24.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AZTA. Evercore lowered their price objective on Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective 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, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.33.

Azenta Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.36. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.84 and a beta of 1.39.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.02). Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.43% and a negative net margin of 10.34%.The company had revenue of $148.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Azenta announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta in the first quarter worth approximately $435,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Azenta by 214.8% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 340,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,798,000 after buying an additional 232,405 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Azenta by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Azenta by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 201,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,974,000 after acquiring an additional 30,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Azenta by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 367,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,322,000 after acquiring an additional 12,533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

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.