Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Position Trimmed by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC reduced its holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,546 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,688 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Azenta were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in Azenta by 305.7% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 706 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Azenta by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Azenta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Azenta by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 123.0% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 4,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of AZTA opened at $31.30 on Friday. Azenta, Inc. has a one year low of $31.09 and a one year high of $63.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.51 and its 200-day moving average is $45.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.50 and a beta of 1.52.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Azenta had a negative net margin of 24.91% and a positive return on equity of 1.25%. Analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AZTA. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Azenta to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities 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.com, Azenta presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.75.

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.