Royce & Associates LP Sells 331,064 Shares of Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Royce & Associates LP cut its holdings in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 343,934 shares of the company’s stock after selling 331,064 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Azenta were worth $9,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Azenta by 192.0% during the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 713,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,975,000 after buying an additional 469,447 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Azenta by 38.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,769,000 after acquiring an additional 297,353 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Azenta by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 722,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,241,000 after acquiring an additional 238,444 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Azenta by 214.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 340,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,798,000 after purchasing an additional 232,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 65.6% in the 2nd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 530,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,314,000 after purchasing an additional 209,877 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZTA opened at $24.54 on Wednesday. Azenta, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.77 and a fifty-two week high of $45.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -18.18 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.85 and a 200-day moving average of $32.47.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $148.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.89 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.43% and a negative net margin of 10.34%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Azenta announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 14.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AZTA shares. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore decreased their price objective on Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.33.

About Azenta

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.