Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Short Interest Update

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens raised Azenta from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Azenta presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.60.

Azenta Price Performance

Azenta stock opened at $49.95 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.24. Azenta has a 1-year low of $38.82 and a 1-year high of $69.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.82 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Azenta news, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $28,529.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,892 shares in the company, valued at $957,352.44. The trade was a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John Marotta purchased 12,717 shares of Azenta 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 completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 99,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,932,681.76. This trade represents a 14.63 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,018 shares of company stock valued at $126,689 over the last ninety days. 10.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

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

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.