Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Sets New 52-Week Low - Here's Why

Key Points

• Azenta's shares hit a new 52-week low of $19.87 (last $19.955) on high volume, trading well below its 50-day ($29.10) and 200-day ($31.48) moving averages.
• The company reported Q4 EPS of $0.09, missing estimates by $0.02 while revenue of $148.6M slightly beat expectations; Azenta has a negative net margin (-10.34%) and a consensus analyst rating of Hold with an average price target of $41.33 after several recent downgrades.
• Azenta's Board authorized a $250 million share repurchase program (up to 14.9% of shares), indicating management believes the stock may be undervalued despite heavy institutional ownership.

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $19.87 and last traded at $19.9550, with a volume of 469782 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AZTA. Evercore lowered their price target on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised Azenta from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Azenta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Azenta in a research note 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.33.

Azenta Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $916.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.74 and a beta of 1.39. The business's fifty day moving average price is $29.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.48.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $148.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Azenta announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 14.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZTA. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased 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 valued at $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 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 832 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 726 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Azenta by 44.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Azenta by 98.0% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,392 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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