Weiss Asset Management LP Acquires Shares of 35,626 Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 35,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,726,000. Weiss Asset Management LP owned about 0.07% of Azenta as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,298,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $278,783,000 after purchasing an additional 100,826 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Azenta by 16.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,970,964 shares of the company's stock worth $156,331,000 after buying an additional 421,719 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Azenta by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,686,993 shares of the company's stock worth $81,718,000 after acquiring an additional 6,398 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Azenta by 16.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,298,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,917,000 after acquiring an additional 183,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Azenta by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 739,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,844,000 after acquiring an additional 53,584 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Azenta Stock Up 1.3 %

AZTA traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $45.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 352,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,025. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.35 and a beta of 1.49. Azenta, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.82 and a 12 month high of $69.16. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $44.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.70.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William L. Cornog acquired 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,298. This represents a 554.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $28,529.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $957,352.44. This represents a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.