Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,728 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,055 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Azenta were worth $486,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZTA. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,686,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,718,000 after buying an additional 6,398 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Azenta by 65.0% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,577,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,894,000 after buying an additional 621,830 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,317,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,922,000 after acquiring an additional 18,529 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Azenta by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 758,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,903,000 after buying an additional 18,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Azenta by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 461,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,080,000 after buying an additional 48,064 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AZTA shares. TD Cowen upgraded Azenta to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.75.

Azenta Stock Down 2.4 %

AZTA opened at $35.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.47 and its 200-day moving average is $46.35. Azenta, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.06 and a 52-week high of $63.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.92 and a beta of 1.52.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Azenta had a negative net margin of 24.91% and a positive return on equity of 1.25%. Equities analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share 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.