Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $145.02 and last traded at $146.50, with a volume of 15586 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $150.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Novanta from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Novanta Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 88.65 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $164.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.13.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Novanta had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business had revenue of $244.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $242.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $1,347,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,131,845.40. This trade represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Novanta

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,350,651 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $241,658,000 after purchasing an additional 20,825 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Novanta by 2.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,298,419 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $232,313,000 after buying an additional 24,929 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Novanta by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 960,152 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $156,610,000 after buying an additional 4,079 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Novanta by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 780,046 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,566,000 after acquiring an additional 8,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Novanta by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 734,728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $131,457,000 after acquiring an additional 69,858 shares during the period. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novanta Company Profile

Novanta, Inc engages in the provision of core technology solutions to healthcare and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers. It operates through the following segments: Photonics, Vision, and Precision Motion. The Photonics segment designs, manufactures, and markets photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and laser beam delivery, CO2 laser, continuous wave and ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products.