Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.8333.

Several analysts have commented on AZTA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Evercore ISI set a $50.00 target price on Azenta in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th.

Azenta Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $37.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.17 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.04. Azenta has a twelve month low of $23.91 and a twelve month high of $55.63.

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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mechanics Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 77.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 870 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Azenta by 249.5% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Azenta by 44.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 41.6% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Azenta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.