Raymond James & Associates Sells 33,843 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Raymond James & Associates lessened its holdings in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,105 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,843 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.14% of Azenta worth $3,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZTA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,970,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,331,000 after purchasing an additional 421,719 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Azenta by 1.9% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,298,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $278,783,000 after buying an additional 100,826 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 433.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 73,055 shares of the company's stock worth $3,844,000 after buying an additional 59,364 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,115,816 shares of the company's stock worth $58,714,000 after acquiring an additional 56,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 618.2% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 58,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,535,000 after acquiring an additional 50,479 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Azenta Trading Up 8.9 %

NASDAQ:AZTA traded up $3.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $44.90. 795,959 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 493,957. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.98 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.92. Azenta, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.24 and a 12 month high of $69.16.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $173.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $166.14 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 0.89% and a negative net margin of 23.66%. Azenta's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZTA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Azenta news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total value of $69,669.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,074,702.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Azenta

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.