Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,650,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 389,908 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.13% of Azenta worth $368,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 75,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,908,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Azenta by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Azenta by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 96,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,262,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Azenta by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $52.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of -19.23 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.23. Azenta, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.43 and a 12 month high of $69.16.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.03. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 0.81% and a negative net margin of 23.12%. The business had revenue of $159.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on AZTA shares. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Azenta from $75.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Azenta in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Azenta from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Azenta currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.40.

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.