Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Trading 4.3% Higher - Time to Buy?

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 4.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $49.77 and last traded at $48.32. 87,446 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 557,064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AZTA. Stephens upgraded Azenta from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.60.

Azenta Price Performance

The business's 50 day moving average price is $44.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of -16.72 and a beta of 1.49.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $170.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.66 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total value of $69,669.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,074,702.72. This represents a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William L. Cornog purchased 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.60 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $584,298. The trade was a 554.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock valued at $126,689 in the last three months. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Azenta during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Azenta by 20.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 150.9% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in Azenta during the 3rd quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Azenta during the second quarter worth about $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.