Short Interest in Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Drops By 6.9%

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,470,000 shares, a decrease of 6.9% from the November 30th total of 4,800,000 shares. Approximately 10.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 759,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of Azenta stock opened at $50.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.83 and a beta of 1.49. Azenta has a one year low of $38.82 and a one year high of $69.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.22.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. The company 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%. Azenta’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Azenta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John Marotta bought 12,717 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.48 per share, for a total transaction of $502,067.16. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 99,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,932,681.76. This represents a 14.63 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.68, for a total transaction of $69,669.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,074,702.72. The trade was a 6.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock worth $126,689. Corporate insiders own 10.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 72.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Azenta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $686,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 69,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 27,882 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased 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 purchasing an additional 53,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Azenta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZTA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens upgraded shares of Azenta from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.60.

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.