Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Stock Holdings in Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,833 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,889 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.08% of Azenta worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Azenta by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Azenta by 113.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Azenta by 79.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Azenta by 29.1% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Azenta by 472.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 2,478 shares in the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Azenta Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $28.62 on Friday. Azenta, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.91 and a twelve month high of $47.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.20 and a beta of 1.35.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.02). Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.43% and a negative net margin of 10.34%.The firm had revenue of $148.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. Azenta’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Azenta declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZTA shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Azenta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore dropped their target price on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.33.

Azenta Profile

Azenta, Inc (NASDAQ: AZTA) is a life sciences technology company specializing in sample management, cryogenic storage and genomic services for research and clinical applications. Formerly the Life Sciences division of Brooks Automation, Azenta provides integrated solutions that enable customers to store, track and analyze biological samples with high levels of automation, data integrity and efficiency. Its offerings span automated storage systems, biorepository management software and end?to?end sample tracking workflows.

In addition to hardware and informatics platforms for sample storage, Azenta’s Genomics business delivers next?generation sequencing (NGS), DNA synthesis, and molecular biology services.