American Capital Management Inc. Acquires 274,588 Shares of Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Key Points

• American Capital Management increased its Azenta stake by 26.9%, purchasing 274,588 additional shares to own 1.30 million shares, or 2.81% of the company, valued at approximately $27.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 99.08%, with Conestoga Capital Advisors more than doubling its position and other major investors including Vanguard, Millennium Management, State Street and Allspring also adding shares.
• Azenta reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, including a $0.04 per-share loss versus a projected $0.12 profit and revenue of $144.8 million versus a $148.5 million estimate. Analysts’ average rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $40.40.

American Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) by 26.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,296,024 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 274,588 shares during the quarter. Azenta makes up about 1.5% of American Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. American Capital Management Inc. owned 2.81% of Azenta worth $27,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZTA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Azenta by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,538,946 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,965,000 after acquiring an additional 99,588 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 116.1% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,844,546 shares of the company's stock worth $60,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528,145 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,866,531 shares of the company's stock worth $62,081,000 after purchasing an additional 167,969 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,732,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,631,000 after purchasing an additional 24,062 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Azenta by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,914 shares of the company's stock worth $34,183,000 after buying an additional 225,867 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Azenta Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Azenta stock opened at $27.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.95 and a beta of 1.37. Azenta, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.93 and a 12 month high of $41.73. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.99.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.16). Azenta had a negative net margin of 30.49% and a positive return on equity of 1.23%. The firm had revenue of $144.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Azenta from $44.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Azenta from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.40.

About Azenta

Azenta, Inc NASDAQ: AZTA is a life sciences technology company specializing in sample management, cryogenic storage and genomic services for research and clinical applications. Formerly the Life Sciences division of Brooks Automation, Azenta provides integrated solutions that enable customers to store, track and analyze biological samples with high levels of automation, data integrity and efficiency. Its offerings span automated storage systems, biorepository management software and end‐to‐end sample tracking workflows.

In addition to hardware and informatics platforms for sample storage, Azenta's Genomics business delivers next‐generation sequencing (NGS), DNA synthesis, and molecular biology services.

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