Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Price Target Lowered to $69.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $75.00 to $69.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 27.61% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AZTA. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Azenta from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a report on Thursday, February 8th. B. Riley upped their price target on Azenta from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Azenta in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.40.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of Azenta stock opened at $54.07 on Thursday. Azenta has a 1-year low of $36.01 and a 1-year high of $69.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -174.41 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.22.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter. Azenta had a negative net margin of 2.92% and a positive return on equity of 0.49%. The firm had revenue of $154.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.86 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Azenta will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Azenta during the 4th quarter worth $140,856,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Azenta by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,231,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,382,000 after acquiring an additional 530,408 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Azenta by 78.7% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,147,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,606,000 after acquiring an additional 505,412 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta during the 3rd quarter worth $12,250,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of Azenta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,875,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

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.