Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 59,330 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 888,737 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,330 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.82% of Azenta worth $43,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Azenta during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Azenta by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Azenta by 150.9% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Azenta in the third quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Azenta during the second quarter valued at approximately $222,000. 99.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZTA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC dropped 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. Finally, Stephens upgraded Azenta from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $50.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.60.

Azenta Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZTA opened at $50.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.85 and a beta of 1.49. Azenta, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.82 and a twelve month high of $69.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.79 and a 200 day moving average of $49.42.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) 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. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.03% and a negative net margin of 25.01%. The firm had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William L. Cornog purchased 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.60 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,298. This represents a 554.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John Marotta acquired 12,717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.48 per share, with a total value of $502,067.16. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,932,681.76. This trade represents a 14.63 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock valued at $126,689. 1.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.