Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports. Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.40%. The firm had revenue of $148.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Azenta Stock Down 12.6%

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $32.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.64 and a 200 day moving average of $32.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.80 and a beta of 1.35. Azenta has a 52 week low of $23.91 and a 52 week high of $55.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AZTA. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Azenta from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Zacks Research raised shares of Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.83.

Azenta declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Azenta by 10.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Azenta by 0.8% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 82,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Azenta by 1.8% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 79,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Azenta by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 1,733 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

About Azenta

Azenta, Inc (NASDAQ: AZTA) is a life sciences technology company specializing in sample management, cryogenic storage and genomic services for research and clinical applications. Formerly the Life Sciences division of Brooks Automation, Azenta provides integrated solutions that enable customers to store, track and analyze biological samples with high levels of automation, data integrity and efficiency. Its offerings span automated storage systems, biorepository management software and end‐to‐end sample tracking workflows.

In addition to hardware and informatics platforms for sample storage, Azenta’s Genomics business delivers next‐generation sequencing (NGS), DNA synthesis, and molecular biology services.