Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Stock Holdings Lowered by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 8.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 30,565 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,862 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Azenta were worth $1,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in shares of Azenta by 72.2% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 31,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in Azenta in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $686,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Azenta by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 69,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 27,882 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Azenta by 7.8% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Azenta in the second quarter worth $222,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Azenta Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZTA opened at $44.93 on Monday. Azenta, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.82 and a twelve month high of $69.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.13 and a beta of 1.49.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $169.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Azenta

In related news, CEO John Marotta bought 12,717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.48 per share, for a total transaction of $502,067.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,681.76. This represents a 14.63 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $69,669.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,074,702.72. This trade represents a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.60.

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.