Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Reaches New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $35.06 and last traded at $35.47, with a volume of 95862 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AZTA. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Azenta to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Azenta presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.75.

Azenta Stock Down 2.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.61 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.27.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Azenta had a negative net margin of 24.91% and a positive return on equity of 1.25%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZTA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Azenta by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,033,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,659,000 after purchasing an additional 26,929 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Azenta by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,686,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,718,000 after buying an additional 6,398 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Azenta by 65.0% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,577,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,894,000 after buying an additional 621,830 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Azenta by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,405,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,183,000 after acquiring an additional 447,292 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,317,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,922,000 after acquiring an additional 18,529 shares during the last quarter. 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.