Azenta, Inc. $AZTA Shares Sold by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC reduced its stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 54.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,866 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,536 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.12% of Azenta worth $1,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZTA. Mechanics Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 77.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 870 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Azenta by 41.6% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Azenta by 29.1% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 10.5% during 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 period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Azenta by 7.5% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Azenta Price Performance

Azenta stock opened at $34.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of -26.54 and a beta of 1.29. Azenta, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.91 and a 12-month high of $55.63.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $159.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.76 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.40% and a negative net margin of 10.01%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Azenta declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 14.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.