Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Shares Down 9.4% – Time to Sell?

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) shares traded down 9.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $43.41 and last traded at $42.63. 407,093 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 493,224 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AZTA. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised Azenta to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three investment 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 $58.75.

Azenta Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.64 and a beta of 1.47.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued 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 positive return on equity of 1.25% and a negative net margin of 24.91%. As a group, analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

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