Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Makes New Investment in Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. bought 1,106,536 shares of Azenta for about $36.8 million during Q4, representing roughly 2.41% ownership in the company.
• Analysts are mixed: Azenta has a consensus rating of Hold with an average target of $41.33, after several firms issued target cuts and a range of buy/hold/sell opinions.
• Company fundamentals: market cap ~$1.12 billion, negative P/E (-17.97), Q4 EPS $0.09 (missed estimates) and revenue $148.6 million (slightly above expectations), with a 52-week range of $19.87–$41.73.

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,106,536 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,803,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 2.41% of Azenta as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 249.5% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 44.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Azenta in the third quarter valued at $57,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 79.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,148 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 472.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 2,478 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AZTA shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore dropped their target price on Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Azenta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Azenta presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.33.

Azenta Price Performance

AZTA opened at $24.26 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average is $24.59 and its 200 day moving average is $30.77. Azenta, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.87 and a fifty-two week high of $41.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.97 and a beta of 1.47.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.02). Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.34% and a positive return on equity of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $148.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Azenta Company Profile

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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