Granahan Investment Management LLC Has $6.81 Million Stake in Azenta, Inc. $AZTA

Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) by 1,999.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,676 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 194,928 shares during the quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.44% of Azenta worth $6,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Azenta by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Azenta during the fourth quarter worth $246,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Azenta by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 65,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 25,738 shares during the last quarter. Meros Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Azenta by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Meros Investment Management LP now owns 166,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,549,000 after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Azenta by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 148,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,931,000 after purchasing an additional 67,749 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on AZTA shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Azenta from $44.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a 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 Monday, May 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.50.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of AZTA opened at $23.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of -5.84 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.03 and its 200-day moving average is $27.94. Azenta, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.93 and a fifty-two week high of $41.73.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $144.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.47 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 30.49% and a positive return on equity of 1.23%. Azenta’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share.

Azenta Profile

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.