Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $60.00 target price on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AZTA. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.60.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $50.04 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.23. Azenta has a fifty-two week low of $38.82 and a fifty-two week high of $69.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.85 and a beta of 1.49.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. The company had revenue of $170.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Azenta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total value of $69,669.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares in the company, valued at $1,074,702.72. This trade represents a 6.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William L. Cornog acquired 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,298. This represents a 554.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in Azenta by 72.2% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 31,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Azenta during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $686,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 69,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after buying an additional 27,882 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Azenta by 7.8% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 739,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,844,000 after buying an additional 53,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Azenta during the second quarter worth $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Company Profile

Azenta, Inc provides biological and chemical compound sample exploration and management solutions for the life sciences market in North America, Africa, China, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates in two reportable segments, Life Sciences Products and Life Sciences Services.