Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Takes Position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new position in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 18,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $924,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 20,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Azenta by 305.7% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 706 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Azenta by 6.3% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 11,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Azenta by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Azenta by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $37.43 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.70 and a 200 day moving average of $46.63. Azenta, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $63.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.56 and a beta of 1.52.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.03. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.25% and a negative net margin of 24.91%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AZTA shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen upgraded Azenta to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.75.

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.