Azenta, Inc. $AZTA Shares Purchased by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its Azenta stake by 16.3% in the first quarter, buying 225,867 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,613,914 shares worth about $34.2 million.
• Other institutional investors also boosted or initiated positions in Azenta, and hedge funds and institutions now own 99.08% of the company’s stock.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: Azenta has a Hold consensus rating with a $39.50 average price target, while the stock recently traded at $26.29 after the company reported a quarterly EPS miss and slightly lower-than-expected revenue.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) by 16.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,613,914 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 225,867 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 3.50% of Azenta worth $34,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $60,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,528,145 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,755,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at $36,803,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Azenta by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,698,562 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,783,000 after purchasing an additional 499,216 shares during the period. Finally, Scopia Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Azenta during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,026,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZTA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Azenta from $44.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Azenta from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Azenta presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.50.

Azenta Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $26.29 on Monday. Azenta, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.93 and a 52-week high of $41.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of -6.64 and a beta of 1.37.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $144.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. Azenta's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis.

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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