Needham & Company LLC Boosts Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Price Target to $59.00

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) had its price target lifted by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $55.00 to $59.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.77% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Azenta Stock Down 3.2 %

AZTA opened at $52.32 on Thursday. Azenta has a 52 week low of $38.82 and a 52 week high of $67.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.62 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.06.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.03. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.03% and a negative net margin of 25.01%. Equities analysts anticipate that Azenta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Azenta

In other Azenta news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $28,529.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,892 shares in the company, valued at $957,352.44. This trade represents a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William L. Cornog purchased 12,500 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,298. This represents a 554.32 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,423 shares of company stock valued at $57,020 over the last quarter. 10.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZTA. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 6.6% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 3.2% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 20,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Azenta by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 11,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.