John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Sells 1,150 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 1.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 80,968 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Azenta were worth $4,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Azenta by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,231,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,382,000 after purchasing an additional 530,408 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Azenta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,856,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Azenta by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,291,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,114,000 after purchasing an additional 152,090 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in Azenta by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 887,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,789,000 after purchasing an additional 14,626 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Azenta by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 625,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,746,000 after purchasing an additional 79,913 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AZTA shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Azenta from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Azenta from $75.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.00.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of AZTA stock traded up $2.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $52.82. 734,747 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 468,197. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of -19.49 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.53. Azenta, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.43 and a 12 month high of $69.16.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $159.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.89 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 23.12% and a positive return on equity of 0.81%. Azenta’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.06) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.3 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.