Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $164.34, but opened at $151.33. Novanta shares last traded at $164.8150, with a volume of 89,925 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOVT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 target price on Novanta in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Novanta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Novanta in a report on Friday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.00.

Novanta Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.56 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $139.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.28.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $257.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $253.40 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 5.35%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Novanta has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.500-3.650 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.810-0.860 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Novanta Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Novanta news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.77, for a total value of $1,162,678.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 96,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,281,850.32. This represents a 9.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.43, for a total value of $1,128,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,432,537.23. This represents a 14.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,957 shares of company stock worth $3,136,229. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOVT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Novanta by 75.9% in 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 in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Novanta by 187.3% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 736,954 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $87,691,000 after buying an additional 480,413 shares in the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP acquired a new position in Novanta in the 4th quarter valued at $51,265,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Novanta in the 4th quarter valued at $50,719,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Novanta by 206.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 600,146 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,540,000 after buying an additional 404,097 shares in the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novanta Company Profile

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.