Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, a drop of 7.2% from the December 31st total of 4,470,000 shares. Currently, 9.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 754,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.5 days.

Insider Transactions at Azenta

In other news, CEO John Marotta purchased 12,717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.48 per share, for a total transaction of $502,067.16. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,932,681.76. The trade was a 14.63 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $28,529.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,352.44. This represents a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,423 shares of company stock worth $57,020 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Azenta by 20.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Azenta by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Azenta during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta in the third quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Azenta during the third quarter valued at $214,000. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AZTA. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Azenta Stock Down 3.6 %

AZTA stock traded down $1.96 on Monday, reaching $52.09. 452,255 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,022. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.96 and a 200-day moving average of $49.06. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of -17.54 and a beta of 1.47. Azenta has a twelve month low of $38.82 and a twelve month high of $67.77.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. The company had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Azenta will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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.