SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 16,253 Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $813,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Azenta by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 20,340 shares of the company's stock worth $1,017,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Azenta during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $927,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 84,804 shares of the company's stock worth $4,326,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Azenta in the third quarter valued at approximately $352,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZTA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC cut 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Azenta presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.60.

Azenta Stock Performance

AZTA stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $53.91. 399,181 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 397,057. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of -18.15 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.12. Azenta, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.82 and a 52 week high of $67.77.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.03% and a negative net margin of 25.01%. The company had revenue of $170.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $28,529.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,352.44. This represents a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William L. Cornog bought 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $584,298. This represents a 554.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,423 shares of company stock worth $57,020 in the last three months. 10.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.