KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $530,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Azenta by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,686,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,718,000 after acquiring an additional 6,398 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Azenta by 65.0% in 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 last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Azenta by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,317,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,922,000 after purchasing an additional 18,529 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in Azenta by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 758,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after purchasing an additional 18,091 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Azenta by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 461,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,080,000 after buying an additional 48,064 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZTA has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Azenta to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.75.

Azenta Stock Down 11.6 %

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $31.30 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.90. Azenta, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.09 and a 12-month high of $63.58. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.50 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Azenta 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.