Premier Fund Managers Ltd Acquires New Shares in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 13,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,298,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,783,000 after acquiring an additional 100,826 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Azenta by 16.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,970,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,331,000 after purchasing an additional 421,719 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Azenta by 16.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,298,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,917,000 after purchasing an additional 183,040 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 7.8% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 739,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,844,000 after buying an additional 53,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 515,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,120,000 after buying an additional 18,680 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Azenta Trading Up 1.3 %

AZTA opened at $40.91 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of -13.77 and a beta of 1.48. Azenta, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.82 and a 1 year high of $69.16.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.08. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. The firm had revenue of $170.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William L. Cornog bought 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.60 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 14,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,298. This represents a 554.32 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of the firm’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 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. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AZTA. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.