Wall Street Zen Downgrades Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) to Hold
by Scott Moore · The Cerbat GemNovanta (NASDAQ:NOVT – Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.
Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Novanta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Novanta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Novanta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $144.00 in a report on Monday, March 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.00.
View Our Latest Report on NOVT
Novanta Stock Performance
Novanta stock opened at $128.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 3.69. Novanta has a one year low of $98.27 and a one year high of $149.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 88.25 and a beta of 1.64.
Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The technology company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Novanta had a return on equity of 13.12% and a net margin of 5.49%.The business had revenue of $258.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Novanta will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Novanta news, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of Novanta stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 57,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,320,509.68. The trade was a 11.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of the company’s 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 $11,281,850.32. This trade represents a 9.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,803 shares of company stock worth $3,700,370. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NOVT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Novanta by 4.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,378,888 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $438,546,000 after purchasing an additional 193,366 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,458,259 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $173,518,000 after buying an additional 47,540 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,399,462 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,536,000 after buying an additional 604,055 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,319,474 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $157,004,000 after buying an additional 13,603 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Novanta by 10.6% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,100,029 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $141,827,000 after buying an additional 104,985 shares during the last quarter. 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.