Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Stock Price

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $69.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 29.03% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.60.

Azenta Trading Down 4.2 %

NASDAQ AZTA opened at $42.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.35 and a beta of 1.48. Azenta has a 12 month low of $40.24 and a 12 month high of $69.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.54.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 0.98%. The business had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Azenta will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of Azenta 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 owns 24,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,074,702.72. The trade was a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Azenta by 20.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Azenta by 150.9% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 955 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Azenta during the first quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 24.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.