Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 196,995 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,658 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.43% of Azenta worth $5,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AZTA. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Azenta by 31.7% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 149,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,566,000 after purchasing an additional 35,874 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta in the second quarter worth $128,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 0.4% during the second quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 807,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,845,000 after acquiring an additional 3,372 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Azenta in the 3rd quarter worth about $794,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Azenta by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,769,000 after purchasing an additional 297,353 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Azenta Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AZTA opened at $28.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of -21.20 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.66. Azenta, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.91 and a 1-year high of $47.55.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $148.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.89 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.43% and a negative net margin of 10.34%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Azenta declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZTA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.33.

Azenta Profile

Azenta, Inc (NASDAQ: AZTA) is a life sciences technology company specializing in sample management, cryogenic storage and genomic services for research and clinical applications. Formerly the Life Sciences division of Brooks Automation, Azenta provides integrated solutions that enable customers to store, track and analyze biological samples with high levels of automation, data integrity and efficiency. Its offerings span automated storage systems, biorepository management software and end‐to‐end sample tracking workflows.

In addition to hardware and informatics platforms for sample storage, Azenta’s Genomics business delivers next‐generation sequencing (NGS), DNA synthesis, and molecular biology services.