HM Payson & Co. Lowers Holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

HM Payson & Co. lowered its stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 34.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,867 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,400 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Azenta were worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Azenta in the second quarter valued at $30,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Azenta in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Azenta by 150.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Azenta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $130,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Azenta by 24.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AZTA. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.40.

Azenta Stock Down 2.4 %

AZTA opened at $41.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.62 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.60 and its 200-day moving average is $51.09. Azenta, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.24 and a 52-week high of $69.16.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.09. Azenta had a negative net margin of 23.66% and a positive return on equity of 0.89%. The company had revenue of $173.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total transaction of $69,669.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,074,702.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company 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.