Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Trading Down 4.2% – Should You Sell?

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)’s stock price traded down 4.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $36.51 and last traded at $36.51. 514,188 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 705,651 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AZTA shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Azenta and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Azenta from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.60.

Azenta Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.17 and a beta of 1.65.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $159.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.76 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.35% and a negative net margin of 18.45%.Azenta’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Azenta by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,698,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,783,000 after purchasing an additional 499,216 shares during the last quarter. Scopia Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Azenta during the third quarter worth approximately $14,026,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Azenta by 192.0% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 713,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,975,000 after buying an additional 469,447 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 35.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,345,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,725,000 after buying an additional 350,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Azenta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,604,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.