Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Azenta has an average “Hold” rating from seven analysts, with four buys, two holds and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $40.40, while Needham recently lowered its target from $44 to $33 but maintained a buy rating.
• Institutional investors hold 99.08% of Azenta’s shares. Conestoga Capital Advisors more than doubled its position, while Front Street Capital Management increased its stake by 211.7%.
• Azenta reported quarterly revenue of $144.79 million, slightly below analyst expectations, and an EPS loss of $0.04 versus the $0.12 consensus estimate. Shares opened at $28.28, with the stock trading between a one-year low of $15.93 and high of $41.73.

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.40.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Azenta from $44.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Azenta from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 116.1% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,844,546 shares of the company's stock worth $60,105,000 after buying an additional 1,528,145 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,803,000. Front Street Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Azenta by 211.7% during the 1st quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 889,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,785,000 after acquiring an additional 603,757 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Azenta by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,698,562 shares of the company's stock worth $48,783,000 after purchasing an additional 499,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scopia Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,026,000. 99.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $28.28 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.86. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.14 and a beta of 1.37. Azenta has a one year low of $15.93 and a one year high of $41.73.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.16). Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.23% and a negative net margin of 30.49%.The firm had revenue of $144.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.01 EPS. Azenta's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis.

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.

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