Stephens Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price target on the stock. Stephens’ price target points to a potential upside of 20.00% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.60.

Azenta Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $50.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.83 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.22. Azenta has a fifty-two week low of $38.82 and a fifty-two week high of $69.16.

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

Insider Activity

In other Azenta news, CEO John Marotta bought 12,717 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,932,681.76. This trade represents a 14.63 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William L. Cornog bought 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,298. The trade was a 554.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,018 shares of company stock valued at $126,689. Company insiders own 10.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Azenta by 150.9% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Azenta during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Azenta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Azenta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $222,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.