Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $20.25, but opened at $21.38. Azenta shares last traded at $20.7670, with a volume of 129,431 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AZTA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Azenta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore lowered their price target on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.33.

Azenta Trading Up 0.2%

The firm has a market cap of $975.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.69 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.23.

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

Azenta announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Azenta in the first quarter valued at about $435,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 214.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 340,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,798,000 after acquiring an additional 232,405 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Azenta by 10.5% in 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 during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Azenta by 17.8% in 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 valued at $6,974,000 after acquiring an additional 30,492 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Azenta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $270,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.