Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $19.87 and last traded at $19.9550, with a volume of 469782 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore decreased their target price on Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Azenta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.33.

Azenta Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.48. The stock has a market cap of $916.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.74 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Azenta declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Azenta by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 832 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Azenta by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Azenta by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Azenta by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in Azenta by 6.2% during the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 7,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. 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.