Norges Bank Makes New $25.40 Million Investment in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 508,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,403,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AZTA. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Azenta by 285.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 31,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 23,132 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Azenta during the third quarter worth $873,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Azenta by 31.3% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 8,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Azenta by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 59,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,870,000 after purchasing an additional 3,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Azenta by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,686,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,718,000 after buying an additional 6,398 shares during the period. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZTA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Azenta to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Azenta from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Azenta from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $29.12 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.77 and a beta of 1.66. Azenta, Inc. has a one year low of $27.93 and a one year high of $63.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.73.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Azenta Company 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.