Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) Short Interest Up 9.4% in April

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,550,000 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the March 31st total of 4,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 445,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 10.2 days. Currently, 8.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 1st quarter worth $317,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Azenta by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,144 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 1st quarter worth $1,720,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Azenta in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Azenta in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Azenta from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on Azenta from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.60.

Azenta Stock Down 0.7 %

AZTA stock opened at $52.10 on Thursday. Azenta has a twelve month low of $36.01 and a twelve month high of $69.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of -168.06 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.93 and a 200 day moving average of $59.14.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $154.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.86 million. Azenta had a positive return on equity of 0.49% and a negative net margin of 2.92%. On average, research analysts expect that Azenta will post 0.27 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.