Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Price Target Raised to $44.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) had its target price raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $42.00 to $44.00 in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.54% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.00.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of AZTA opened at $34.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of -26.54 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.39. Azenta has a twelve month low of $23.91 and a twelve month high of $55.63.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $159.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.76 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Azenta will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Azenta announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 5.9% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 53,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Azenta by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 221,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,681,000 after buying an additional 2,933 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 1st quarter valued at $11,604,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Azenta by 5.6% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 30,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 3.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 102,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 3,204 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.