Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Price Target Raised to $39.00

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) had its price objective hoisted by TD Cowen from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Azenta from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Raymond James Financial upped 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. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $50.00 price objective on Azenta in a report on Monday, January 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.83.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $37.92 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of -29.17 and a beta of 1.32. Azenta has a 1-year low of $23.91 and a 1-year high of $55.63.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 21st. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $159.19 million for 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%. Azenta’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Azenta will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Azenta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,755,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Azenta by 41.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,698,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,783,000 after buying an additional 499,216 shares during the last quarter. Scopia Capital Management LP bought a new position in Azenta in the third quarter worth approximately $14,026,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 192.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 713,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,975,000 after acquiring an additional 469,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,345,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,725,000 after acquiring an additional 350,930 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.