Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $40.08 and last traded at $40.16, with a volume of 73975 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.51.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZTA has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.60.

Azenta Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.56 and its 200 day moving average is $50.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.98 and a beta of 1.48.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $170.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.66 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.03% and a negative net margin of 25.01%. Azenta’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total value of $69,669.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,074,702.72. This trade represents a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Azenta by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,298,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,783,000 after buying an additional 100,826 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Azenta by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,970,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,331,000 after acquiring an additional 421,719 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Azenta by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,686,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,718,000 after acquiring an additional 6,398 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Azenta by 16.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,298,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,917,000 after acquiring an additional 183,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 7.8% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 739,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,844,000 after purchasing an additional 53,584 shares in the last quarter. 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.