Royce & Associates LP Purchases 53,584 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 739,977 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 53,584 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Azenta were worth $35,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Azenta by 1.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Azenta by 20.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Azenta by 2.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Green Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Azenta by 3.5% during the third quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Azenta by 6.6% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Azenta

In other news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total value of $69,669.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,074,702.72. The trade was a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Azenta Stock Down 4.2 %

NASDAQ AZTA opened at $42.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $45.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.54. Azenta, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.24 and a 1-year high of $69.16.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $170.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.66 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.03% and a negative net margin of 25.01%. Azenta’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. Research analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AZTA. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on 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 Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.60.

Azenta Company 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.