Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 284,311 Shares of Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 21,522.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 285,632 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 284,311 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Azenta were worth $6,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 2,067.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 802 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Azenta by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 832 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Azenta by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Azenta by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Azenta by 141.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Azenta from $44.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Azenta from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

Azenta Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $26.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -6.76 and a beta of 1.37. Azenta, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.93 and a 1-year high of $41.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.54 and its 200-day moving average is $26.35.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $144.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.47 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 30.49% and a positive return on equity of 1.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share.

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.