Wall Street Zen Upgrades Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) to “Buy”

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Azenta from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.20.

Azenta Price Performance

NASDAQ AZTA opened at $37.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of -13.67 and a beta of 1.52. Azenta has a 12-month low of $15.93 and a 12-month high of $46.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.94.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Azenta during the 2nd quarter worth about $192,152,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Azenta by 116.1% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,844,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,105,000 after buying an additional 1,528,145 shares during the last quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Azenta in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,212,000. American Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Azenta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,089,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Azenta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,058,000. 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.