Zions Bancorporation N.A. Increases Stock Holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,678 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,774 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. owned about 0.06% of Azenta worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZTA. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 305.7% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Azenta by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta during the fourth quarter worth about $200,000. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 123.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 4,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at about $293,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Price Performance

Azenta stock opened at $37.15 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.49. Azenta, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $63.58. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of -12.47 and a beta of 1.52.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AZTA shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Azenta to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Azenta currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.