Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 195.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,904 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,534 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Azenta were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 65.0% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,577,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,894,000 after purchasing an additional 621,830 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Azenta in the 4th quarter worth $25,403,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Azenta by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,405,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,183,000 after acquiring an additional 447,292 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,405,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Azenta by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 221,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,054,000 after purchasing an additional 107,339 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZTA opened at $25.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -8.41 and a beta of 1.66. Azenta, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.06 and a 1 year high of $63.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.65.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.25% and a negative net margin of 24.91%. On average, research analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of Azenta to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

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.