Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 65.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,577,881 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 621,830 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Azenta were worth $78,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Azenta by 20.0% during the 3rd 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. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Azenta by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta in the fourth quarter worth $200,000. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Azenta during the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Azenta during the 3rd quarter valued at $214,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AZTA. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Azenta Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZTA opened at $54.05 on Monday. Azenta, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.82 and a 52-week high of $67.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.06.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.66 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. Azenta’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Azenta

In other news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $28,529.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,352.44. This represents a 2.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William L. Cornog bought 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 14,755 shares in the company, valued at $584,298. The trade was a 554.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,423 shares of company stock worth $57,020 over the last quarter. Insiders own 10.62% of the company’s stock.

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.