Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires New Stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 26,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,308,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in Azenta in the third quarter valued at approximately $686,000. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Azenta by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 739,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,844,000 after acquiring an additional 53,584 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Azenta by 355.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 20,210 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR bought a new stake in Azenta during the 4th quarter valued at $313,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Azenta during the 4th quarter valued at $813,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZTA. TD Cowen raised shares of Azenta to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Azenta has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.75.

Azenta Stock Performance

Azenta stock opened at $43.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.64 and a beta of 1.47. Azenta, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.82 and a fifty-two week high of $67.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $50.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.71.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.25% and a negative net margin of 24.91%. Sell-side analysts predict that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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.