Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 67,809 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 37.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113,744 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,809 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.25% of Azenta worth $5,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $28,529.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,352.44. This represents a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John Marotta purchased 12,717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.48 per share, for a total transaction of $502,067.16. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,681.76. The trade was a 14.63 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689 over the last three months. Insiders own 10.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZTA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Azenta from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Azenta Stock Performance

AZTA opened at $50.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.83 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $45.84 and its 200-day moving average is $49.22. Azenta, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.82 and a 52-week high of $69.16.

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

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.