Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 229,411 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,982 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.41% of Azenta worth $14,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 365,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,809,000 after purchasing an additional 82,502 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 558.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 88,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,421,000 after purchasing an additional 74,708 shares during the period. Millrace Asset Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Azenta during the third quarter worth $1,074,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Azenta during the third quarter worth $860,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 35.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 331,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,613,000 after purchasing an additional 86,477 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AZTA shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Azenta from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Azenta from $75.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Azenta in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on Azenta from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.40.

Azenta Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $50.27 on Friday. Azenta, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.20 and a fifty-two week high of $69.16. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.55 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.44.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.03. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 0.81% and a negative net margin of 23.12%. The business had revenue of $159.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.29 earnings per share 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.