Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Azenta Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of -13.77 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Azenta news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total transaction of $69,669.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,074,702.72. This trade represents a 6.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William L. Cornog purchased 12,500 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,298. This trade represents a 554.32 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of Azenta by 150.8% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 24,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after buying an additional 14,880 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Azenta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,726,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Azenta by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,686,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,718,000 after purchasing an additional 6,398 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 6.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 59,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,870,000 after purchasing an additional 3,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 8.7% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 434,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,052,000 after purchasing an additional 34,849 shares during the period. 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.