American Century Companies Inc. Buys 27,882 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 66.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,955 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,882 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.13% of Azenta worth $3,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AZTA. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Azenta by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 625,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,746,000 after purchasing an additional 79,913 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,115,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,714,000 after buying an additional 56,387 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Azenta by 618.2% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 58,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,535,000 after acquiring an additional 50,479 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Azenta during the fourth quarter valued at $1,973,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Azenta in the first quarter valued at about $1,720,000. 99.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Azenta from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Azenta currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.00.

Azenta Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $49.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.53. Azenta, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.00 and a 52-week high of $69.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of -18.15 and a beta of 1.47.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.09. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 0.89% and a negative net margin of 23.66%. The company had revenue of $173.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.