Squarepoint Ops LLC Increases Stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 433.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,055 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,364 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Azenta worth $3,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZTA. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Azenta in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Azenta during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Azenta during the first quarter valued at $49,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Azenta in the first quarter valued at about $130,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Azenta by 24.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $47.50 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.11. Azenta, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.00 and a 1-year high of $69.16. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.53 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AZTA shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.40.

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.