Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Short Interest Up 21.2% in February

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 5,072,280 shares, an increase of 21.2% from the January 29th total of 4,184,344 shares. Currently, 12.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,202,306 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,202,306 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 12.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azenta

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AZTA. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $187,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Azenta by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 11,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Azenta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $755,000. Front Street Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Azenta by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 285,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,487,000 after purchasing an additional 35,270 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in shares of Azenta by 298.8% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 68,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 51,368 shares in the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AZTA shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of Azenta from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Azenta has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.33.

Azenta Price Performance

AZTA opened at $24.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.37. Azenta has a fifty-two week low of $23.77 and a fifty-two week high of $45.26. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.36 and a beta of 1.39.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.02). Azenta had a positive return on equity of 1.43% and a negative net margin of 10.34%.The business had revenue of $148.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. Azenta’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Azenta will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Azenta declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 14.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Azenta

Azenta, Inc (NASDAQ: AZTA) is a life sciences technology company specializing in sample management, cryogenic storage and genomic services for research and clinical applications. Formerly the Life Sciences division of Brooks Automation, Azenta provides integrated solutions that enable customers to store, track and analyze biological samples with high levels of automation, data integrity and efficiency. Its offerings span automated storage systems, biorepository management software and end‐to‐end sample tracking workflows.

In addition to hardware and informatics platforms for sample storage, Azenta’s Genomics business delivers next‐generation sequencing (NGS), DNA synthesis, and molecular biology services.