Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $23.81 and last traded at $23.8170, with a volume of 104167 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Evercore reduced 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Azenta presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.33.

Azenta Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.35 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.51.

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

Azenta declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Azenta by 2,067.6% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 802 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 832 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Azenta by 249.5% during the third 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 period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Azenta by 44.9% in the second 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. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Azenta by 141.2% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. 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.