Novanta Inc. $NOVT Shares Sold by Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 31.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 832,212 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 385,751 shares during the period. Novanta accounts for 3.6% of Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novanta were worth $118,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Novanta in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its position in Novanta by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 303 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Novanta during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Novanta by 231.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 345 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Novanta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOVT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $194.00 price objective on shares of Novanta in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Novanta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Zacks Research cut Novanta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Novanta in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $194.00.

Novanta Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ NOVT opened at $145.23 on Thursday. Novanta Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.27 and a 12-month high of $176.38. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.10 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 4.57, a quick ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.56.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.06. Novanta had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 10.83%. The business had revenue of $265.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Novanta Inc. will post 3.70 EPS for the current year.

Novanta Company Profile

Novanta Inc is a technology company that develops and manufactures precision equipment and components used primarily in medical and advanced industrial applications. Its solutions are designed to support the movement, imaging, measurement and processing functions of complex equipment.

The company’s products include photonics and laser components, precision motion-control systems, medical imaging and visualization technologies, and equipment used in minimally invasive and robotic surgery.