Royce & Associates LP Sells 114,812 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in Azenta, Inc. by 15.1% during the first quarter, holding 643,256 shares after selling 114,812 shares.
• Shares of Azenta saw a modest increase of 1.4% to $34.43, despite missing analysts' earnings per share consensus estimates in its latest quarterly results.
• Several hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Azenta, with 99.08% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.

Royce & Associates LP decreased its holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) by 15.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 643,256 shares of the company's stock after selling 114,812 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.41% of Azenta worth $22,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 788.1% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 968 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Azenta by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the company's stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AZTA shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of Azenta in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price 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, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Azenta from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of Azenta stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Monday, hitting $34.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 154,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,777. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.71. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of -24.91 and a beta of 1.64. Azenta, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.91 and a 52 week high of $63.58.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.30% and a negative net margin of 10.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Azenta Company 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.