Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Azenta shares surged to a new 52-week high, reaching $42.00 and trading 12.4% higher, while its market capitalization stood at approximately $1.70 billion.
• Analysts remain mixed: Needham reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $37 price target, but the broader consensus is Hold, with an average target of $41.20.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.16 in earnings per share versus the $0.11 estimate and revenue of $161.18 million against forecasts of $149.31 million. Institutional investors own a substantial 99.08% of outstanding shares.

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Saturday. The company traded as high as $42.00 and last traded at $38.75, with a volume of 3357979 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AZTA shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Azenta from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.20.

Azenta Trading Up 12.4%

The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.04 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.60 and a 200-day moving average of $26.29.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.18% and a negative net margin of 20.63%.The firm had revenue of $161.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.31 million.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AZTA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Azenta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in shares of Azenta during the 2nd quarter worth about $508,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $697,000. Kerrisdale Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 1,419.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kerrisdale Advisers LLC now owns 290,682 shares of the company's stock worth $7,418,000 after acquiring an additional 271,552 shares during the period. Finally, Moore Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Azenta in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,569,000. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company's stock.

About Azenta

Azenta, Inc NASDAQ: AZTA is a life sciences company that provides products and services for the management, storage, and analysis of biological and chemical samples. Its offerings support pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic and government research institutions, clinical research organizations, and other laboratories.

The company's products include automated sample storage systems, laboratory automation equipment, sample-management software, consumables, and cold-storage solutions designed to preserve and track biological materials.

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