Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,975 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,581 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Azenta were worth $1,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZTA. Macquarie Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Azenta during the second quarter worth $160,068,000. State Street Corp acquired a new position in shares of Azenta in the 2nd quarter valued at $141,290,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 115.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,018,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,328 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Azenta in the 4th quarter valued at $88,297,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Azenta by 1,243.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 983,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,255,000 after purchasing an additional 910,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Trading Down 2.2 %

AZTA opened at $53.55 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.01. Azenta, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.01 and a 12-month high of $69.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -172.74 and a beta of 1.53.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $154.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.86 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 0.49% and a negative net margin of 2.92%. On average, research analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AZTA. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Azenta in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Azenta from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a research note on Monday, April 8th. B. Riley upped their price target on Azenta from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.60.

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.