Stifel Financial Corp Raises Holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 6.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 59,241 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,601 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Azenta were worth $2,870,000 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. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Azenta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Azenta by 20.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Azenta by 150.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of Azenta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Azenta during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John Marotta purchased 12,717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.48 per share, for a total transaction of $502,067.16. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,932,681.76. The trade was a 14.63 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total transaction of $69,669.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,074,702.72. This represents a 6.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Azenta Stock Up 4.1 %

Azenta stock opened at $46.31 on Wednesday. Azenta, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.82 and a 52-week high of $69.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of -15.59 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.45.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.08. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.03% and a negative net margin of 25.01%. The business had revenue of $170.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.