Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Stephens

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) was upgraded by research analysts at Stephens from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $60.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $50.00. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 29.56% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two 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.com, Azenta currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.60.

Azenta Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $46.31 on Wednesday. Azenta has a twelve month low of $38.82 and a twelve month high of $69.16. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.59 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.49 and a 200 day moving average of $49.45.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.08. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.03% and a negative net margin of 25.01%. The company had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Azenta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Azenta

In related news, CEO John Marotta bought 12,717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $39.48 per share, with a total value of $502,067.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,932,681.76. This trade represents a 14.63 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total value of $69,669.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,604 shares in the company, valued at $1,074,702.72. The trade was a 6.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AZTA. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Azenta in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Azenta by 20.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Azenta by 150.9% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 955 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Azenta during the third quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Azenta during the 3rd quarter worth about $214,000. 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.