Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 70,500 Shares of Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 700,591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70,500 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 1.53% of Azenta worth $21,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,345,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,725,000 after purchasing an additional 350,930 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Azenta in the first quarter valued at $11,604,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Azenta by 38.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,769,000 after buying an additional 297,353 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Azenta by 214.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 340,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,798,000 after acquiring an additional 232,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its position in Azenta by 65.6% during the second quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 530,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,314,000 after acquiring an additional 209,877 shares in the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AZTA. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Azenta from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.60.

Azenta Stock Up 1.6%

AZTA opened at $35.60 on Wednesday. Azenta, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.91 and a twelve month high of $55.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.38 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.05.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.40%. The company had revenue of $159.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal 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.