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

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) saw a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,020,000 shares, a decrease 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Currently, 8.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John Marotta purchased 12,717 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.48 per share, with a total value of $502,067.16. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 99,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,681.76. This represents a 14.63 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William L. Cornog acquired 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $39.60 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,298. This trade represents a 554.32 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,018 shares of company stock valued at $126,689. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZTA. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Azenta during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Azenta by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Azenta by 150.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 955 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Azenta in the 1st quarter worth $130,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Azenta in the third quarter valued at about $205,000. 99.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Azenta Price Performance

Shares of Azenta stock opened at $47.21 on Tuesday. Azenta has a 1 year low of $38.82 and a 1 year high of $69.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of -15.90 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.87.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $169.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Azenta will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AZTA shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.60.

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.