Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Stock Price

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $40.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 41.04% from the stock’s current price.

AZTA has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.17.

Azenta Price Performance

Azenta stock traded down $8.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $28.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,876,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 661,748. Azenta has a 12-month low of $23.91 and a 12-month high of $55.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.69 and a beta of 1.35.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued 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. Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.40%. The firm had revenue of $159.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Azenta will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Azenta declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Azenta by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Azenta by 113.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009 shares during the period. 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.