Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Stock Holdings in Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 249.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,602 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,955 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.21% of Azenta worth $3,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 385 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Azenta by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in Azenta by 6.2% in the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 7,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Azenta by 10.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Azenta by 0.8% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 82,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AZTA shares. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Azenta in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Azenta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore decreased their target price on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Azenta currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.33.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZTA opened at $19.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $916.59 million, a PE ratio of -14.74 and a beta of 1.39. Azenta, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.87 and a twelve month high of $41.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.44.

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

Azenta announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 14.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.