Premier Fund Managers Ltd Makes New Investment in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $686,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZTA. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Azenta by 9.3% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,698 shares of the company's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. Natixis purchased a new stake in Azenta in the first quarter valued at approximately $151,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Azenta during the first quarter worth approximately $130,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Azenta Price Performance

NASDAQ AZTA traded up $3.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $44.88. The company had a trading volume of 965,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,806. The firm's 50 day moving average is $45.34 and its 200 day moving average is $50.26. Azenta, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.82 and a fifty-two week high of $69.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.32 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Insider Transactions at Azenta

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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,074,702.72. This represents a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William L. Cornog purchased 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.60 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $584,298. This represents a 554.32 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZTA has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lowered 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. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.60.

Azenta 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.