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

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) was the target of a significant 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. Approximately 8.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Azenta news, Director William L. Cornog bought 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.60 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,298. This trade represents a 554.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Herman Cueto sold 1,595 shares of Azenta 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,074,702.72. This trade represents a 6.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,018 shares of company stock valued at $126,689 over the last 90 days. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Azenta by 1.9% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,298,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,783,000 after purchasing an additional 100,826 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Azenta by 16.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,970,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,331,000 after acquiring an additional 421,719 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,686,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,718,000 after buying an additional 6,398 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Azenta by 16.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,298,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,917,000 after buying an additional 183,040 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 53,584 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Azenta from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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 research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.60.

Azenta Stock Performance

Shares of AZTA traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.42. The company had a trading volume of 64,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 558,572. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.81 and a beta of 1.49. Azenta has a 52-week low of $38.82 and a 52-week high of $69.16.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $170.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.66 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 25.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Azenta will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.