Truist Financial Corp Sells 14,288 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Truist Financial Corp decreased its stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 25.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,024 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,288 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.09% of Azenta worth $2,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZTA. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Azenta by 65.0% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,577,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,894,000 after purchasing an additional 621,830 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Azenta by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 221,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,054,000 after acquiring an additional 107,339 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in Azenta by 7.8% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 739,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,844,000 after acquiring an additional 53,584 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Azenta in the third quarter worth approximately $1,979,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Azenta in the third quarter worth approximately $1,726,000. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Stock Performance

AZTA opened at $47.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.79 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.43 and a 200 day moving average of $47.86. Azenta, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.82 and a fifty-two week high of $67.77.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.03. Azenta had a negative net margin of 24.91% and a positive return on equity of 1.25%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

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.