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

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,110,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the August 15th total of 4,850,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 559,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.1 days. Approximately 10.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AZTA shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Azenta in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Azenta from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Azenta Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZTA traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.90. 184,953 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 495,064. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.11 and a beta of 1.47. Azenta has a 12 month low of $44.00 and a 12 month high of $69.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.59 and a 200 day moving average of $54.32.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $173.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.14 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 0.89% and a negative net margin of 23.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Azenta will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Azenta by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Azenta by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 446,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,074,000 after purchasing an additional 7,745 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Azenta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Azenta by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Azenta by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

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.