Short Interest in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Decreases By 7.4%

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,020,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the October 31st total of 4,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 764,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days. Currently, 8.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AZTA shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total value of $69,669.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,074,702.72. This trade represents a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John Marotta acquired 12,717 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.48 per share, for a total transaction of $502,067.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,932,681.76. This represents a 14.63 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AZTA. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Azenta by 72.2% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 31,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Azenta during the third quarter worth $686,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Azenta by 66.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 69,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after buying an additional 27,882 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Azenta by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 739,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,844,000 after buying an additional 53,584 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Azenta during the 2nd quarter worth about $222,000. 99.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Azenta Price Performance

NASDAQ AZTA traded up $0.40 on Monday, hitting $46.61. The company had a trading volume of 216,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 558,678. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.87. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 1.48. Azenta has a 12-month low of $38.82 and a 12-month high of $69.16.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.66 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Azenta will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

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.