Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Shares Sold by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC lessened its position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,391 shares of the company’s stock after selling 676 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Azenta were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AZTA. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in Azenta by 72.2% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 31,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Azenta during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $686,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Azenta by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 69,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,681,000 after buying an additional 27,882 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 739,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,844,000 after buying an additional 53,584 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta in the second quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Azenta

In other Azenta news, CEO John Marotta purchased 12,717 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.48 per share, with a total value of $502,067.16. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,681.76. This trade represents a 14.63 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total value of $69,669.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,074,702.72. This represents a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock valued at $126,689. 1.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of Azenta stock opened at $50.43 on Friday. Azenta, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.82 and a 1 year high of $69.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.98 and a beta of 1.49.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.03% and a negative net margin of 25.01%. The company had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens upgraded Azenta from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

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.