MetLife Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 96.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 844 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,509 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Azenta were worth $42,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Azenta by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 84,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,326,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 4th quarter worth $927,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Azenta in the 4th quarter worth $200,000. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Azenta by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 20,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Azenta in the 4th quarter worth $813,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZTA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Azenta from $59.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised shares of Azenta to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target 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.

Azenta Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of AZTA stock opened at $26.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.00 and a beta of 1.64. Azenta, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.91 and a 52-week high of $63.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.45 and its 200 day moving average is $42.02.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). Azenta had a negative net margin of 24.91% and a positive return on equity of 1.25%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Azenta, Inc. will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal 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.