Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

NOVT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research raised Novanta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Novanta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Novanta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $150.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Monday, March 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.00.

Novanta Trading Up 2.7%

NASDAQ NOVT opened at $132.28 on Friday. Novanta has a 52 week low of $98.27 and a 52 week high of $149.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $128.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 90.60 and a beta of 1.64.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The technology company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Novanta had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 13.12%. The company had revenue of $258.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $260.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Novanta has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.500-3.650 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novanta will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of Novanta stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.77, for a total transaction of $1,162,678.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 96,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,281,850.32. The trade was a 9.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.04, for a total transaction of $1,087,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 57,367 shares in the company, valued at $8,320,509.68. This trade represents a 11.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 27,803 shares of company stock worth $3,700,370 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novanta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,399,462 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $155,536,000 after purchasing an additional 604,055 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Novanta by 15.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 81,691 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,181,000 after buying an additional 10,896 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Novanta by 24.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 222,391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $22,272,000 after buying an additional 44,252 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Novanta by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 178,375 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,864,000 after buying an additional 32,278 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in Novanta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

About Novanta

Novanta, Inc (NASDAQ: NOVT) is a global technology company that designs and manufactures precision components, subsystems and software used in advanced photonics and motion control applications. The company serves customers in the medical device and advanced industrial markets, supplying critical technologies for diagnostics and therapeutic systems, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, and scientific instrumentation. Novanta’s product portfolio includes laser control modules, optics, beam delivery systems, high-precision motors, actuators, stages, and fluidics solutions designed to meet stringent accuracy and reliability requirements.

Novanta’s Photonics segment delivers laser and energy delivery components that enable minimally invasive surgical procedures and diagnostic imaging.