Natixis Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 378,450 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,668 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.77% of Azenta worth $18,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Azenta during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 20.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Azenta by 150.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Azenta in the first quarter valued at $130,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Azenta by 24.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the company's stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZTA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.60.

Insider Activity at Azenta

In other Azenta news, Director William L. Cornog purchased 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 14,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $584,298. This trade represents a 554.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total transaction of $69,669.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,074,702.72. This represents a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Azenta Trading Up 9.7 %

AZTA stock traded up $3.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.88. The company had a trading volume of 965,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,806. Azenta, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.82 and a 1 year high of $69.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.32 and a beta of 1.48.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.66 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

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.