Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 621,830 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 65.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,577,881 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 621,830 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned 3.45% of Azenta worth $78,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZTA. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Azenta by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Azenta by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 375,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,781,000 after buying an additional 25,545 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Azenta during the 4th quarter worth $813,000. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Azenta by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 20,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Azenta Stock Performance

AZTA opened at $54.05 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.96 and a 200-day moving average of $49.06. Azenta, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.82 and a 52 week high of $67.77.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $170.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $28,529.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,352.44. This trade represents a 2.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William L. Cornog bought 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,298. This trade represents a 554.32 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,423 shares of company stock valued at $57,020. Corporate insiders own 10.62% of the company’s stock.

About Azenta

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.