Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) shares hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $43.42 and last traded at $43.47, with a volume of 284527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AZTA shares. 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.40.

Azenta Stock Down 1.1 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.14. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of -16.21 and a beta of 1.47.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.09. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 0.89% and a negative net margin of 23.66%. The business had revenue of $173.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Azenta by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,298,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,783,000 after purchasing an additional 100,826 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 16.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,970,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,331,000 after buying an additional 421,719 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Azenta by 5.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,115,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,714,000 after acquiring an additional 56,387 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Azenta by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 515,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,120,000 after acquiring an additional 18,680 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Azenta by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 432,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,758,000 after acquiring an additional 25,586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

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.