Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 29,689 Shares of Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Nordea Investment Management AB cut its holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 238,908 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,689 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.52% of Azenta worth $8,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Azenta by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 44.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Azenta during the third quarter worth $57,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Azenta by 79.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,478 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Azenta Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of AZTA opened at $21.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.19 and a beta of 1.39. Azenta, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.93 and a 12 month high of $41.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.55.

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

Azenta announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research raised Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Evercore cut their price target on Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Azenta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.33.

About Azenta

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.