Azenta’s (AZTA) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $44.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AZTA. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Azenta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Evercore cut their price target on Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.33.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $20.63 on Tuesday. Azenta has a 1-year low of $20.22 and a 1-year high of $41.73. The stock has a market cap of $950.22 million, a P/E ratio of -15.28 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $30.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.79.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted 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). Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.34% and a positive return on equity of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $148.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Azenta will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Azenta declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 14.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 2,067.6% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in 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. raised its position in Azenta by 44.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Azenta by 98.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.