Caprock Group LLC Invests $1.64 Million in Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 53,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,000. Caprock Group LLC owned about 0.12% of Azenta as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Azenta by 249.5% during 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 during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 113.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Azenta by 79.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Azenta by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Azenta stock opened at $28.62 on Friday. Azenta, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.91 and a 12 month high of $47.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.20 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.67.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $148.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.89 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.34% and a positive return on equity of 1.43%. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Azenta declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AZTA shares. Evercore dropped their price objective on Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Azenta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.33.

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.