Azenta, Inc. $AZTA Shares Acquired by Comerica Bank

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its stake in Azenta, Inc. by 21.6% in Q1, owning 186,564 shares valued at approximately $6.46 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Mitsubishi UFJ and Oppenheimer, have also boosted their holdings in Azenta recently, with hedge funds owning about 99.08% of the stock.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Azenta, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target averaging around $35.75, following adjustments from firms like Needham and Raymond James.

Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) by 21.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,564 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,134 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned 0.41% of Azenta worth $6,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AZTA. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Azenta during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,034,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Azenta by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,850 shares of the company's stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 6,571 shares of the company's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Azenta by 59.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 247,402 shares of the company's stock worth $12,370,000 after purchasing an additional 92,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Azenta by 86.1% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 58,104 shares of the company's stock worth $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 26,877 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AZTA shares. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Azenta from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Azenta and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Azenta from $59.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of Azenta in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.75.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of Azenta stock traded down $0.75 on Wednesday, hitting $29.42. The company had a trading volume of 100,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 752,321. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.86. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of -12.14 and a beta of 1.65. Azenta, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.91 and a 52 week high of $55.63.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $143.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $149.64 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 18.45% and a positive return on equity of 1.35%. The business's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict 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.