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

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,800,000 shares, a growth of 19.4% from the November 15th total of 4,020,000 shares. Currently, 10.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 755,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.4 days.

Insider Transactions at Azenta

In other news, CEO John Marotta bought 12,717 shares of Azenta stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.48 per share, with a total value of $502,067.16. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 99,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,681.76. The trade was a 14.63 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $957,352.44. This trade represents a 2.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,018 shares of company stock valued at $126,689 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Azenta during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Azenta by 150.9% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Azenta during the third quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Azenta in the third quarter valued at $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AZTA shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Azenta from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.60.

Azenta Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of AZTA traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.93. 561,708 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 558,006. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.13 and a beta of 1.49. Azenta has a 1 year low of $38.82 and a 1 year high of $69.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.53 and its 200-day moving average is $49.54.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $169.66 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. Azenta’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Azenta will post 0.41 EPS for the current 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.