Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 436,388 Shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 39.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 668,556 shares of the company’s stock after selling 436,388 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Azenta were worth $33,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in Azenta by 305.7% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Azenta by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Azenta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Azenta by 123.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 4,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Azenta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $37.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.68 and a beta of 1.52. Azenta, Inc. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $63.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.73.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current 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.