John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Raises Stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 40.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,825 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,032 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. owned 0.24% of Azenta worth $5,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Azenta by 65.0% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,577,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,894,000 after acquiring an additional 621,830 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Azenta by 94.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 221,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,054,000 after purchasing an additional 107,339 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Azenta by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 265,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,299,000 after purchasing an additional 77,409 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Azenta by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 739,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,844,000 after purchasing an additional 53,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 149,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,469,000 after purchasing an additional 52,120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AZTA shares. TD Cowen upgraded Azenta to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.75.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $43.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of -14.64 and a beta of 1.47. Azenta, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.82 and a 1-year high of $67.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.17 and a 200 day moving average of $47.71.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued 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 positive return on equity of 1.25% and a negative net margin of 24.91%. Analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

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.