Commerce Bank Raises Stock Position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Commerce Bank lifted its position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 42.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,097 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,428 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Azenta were worth $877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AZTA. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Azenta by 20.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Azenta by 2.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Azenta by 3.5% during the third quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Azenta by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Azenta

In other Azenta news, Director William L. Cornog bought 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,298. This trade represents a 554.32 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John Marotta purchased 12,717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.48 per share, for a total transaction of $502,067.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,681.76. This trade represents a 14.63 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Azenta Stock Down 0.8 %

AZTA opened at $45.16 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.05. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.21 and a beta of 1.48. Azenta, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.82 and a 52-week high of $69.16.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. The business had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.