Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Shares Up 4.3% – Still a Buy?

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) shares traded up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $49.77 and last traded at $48.32. 87,446 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 557,064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AZTA. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Stephens upgraded Azenta from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Azenta Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of -16.67 and a beta of 1.49.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $170.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.66 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.03% and a negative net margin of 25.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Azenta news, CEO John Marotta acquired 12,717 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.48 per share, with a total value of $502,067.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,681.76. The trade was a 14.63 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $28,529.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,352.44. The trade was a 2.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Azenta by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Azenta by 2.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 3.5% during the third quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Azenta by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

About Azenta

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.