D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 165,014 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. cut its position in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) by 35.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 300,784 shares of the company's stock after selling 165,014 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.66% of Azenta worth $15,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Azenta by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,033,171 shares of the company's stock worth $151,659,000 after buying an additional 26,929 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 65.0% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,577,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,894,000 after buying an additional 621,830 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Azenta by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,405,056 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,183,000 after buying an additional 447,292 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Azenta by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,317,385 shares of the company's stock worth $65,922,000 after buying an additional 18,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Azenta during the fourth quarter worth $47,350,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AZTA. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Azenta from $59.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Azenta to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Azenta Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:AZTA traded up $0.76 on Friday, hitting $27.47. The company had a trading volume of 882,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 678,416. Azenta, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.91 and a 1-year high of $63.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.22 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.54.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). Azenta had a negative net margin of 24.91% and a positive return on equity of 1.25%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Azenta 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.