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 $145.98, but opened at $134.00. Novanta shares last traded at $124.5040, with a volume of 153,398 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NOVT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Novanta in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Zacks Research lowered Novanta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $194.00 price target on Novanta in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Novanta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novanta presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $194.00.

Novanta Trading Down 16.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 3.79, a current ratio of 4.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.82 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $142.25 and a 200-day moving average of $142.59.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The technology company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $305.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $301.02 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 10.83% and a net margin of 6.00%. Novanta’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Novanta Inc. will post 3.70 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novanta

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 7.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,436,785 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $233,005,000 after purchasing an additional 97,621 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Novanta by 615.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 34,631 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,619,000 after acquiring an additional 29,793 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Novanta by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 456,241 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,887,000 after acquiring an additional 70,728 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Novanta in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,797,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new position in shares of Novanta during the 2nd quarter valued at $137,984,000. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Novanta Company Profile

Novanta develops and manufactures precision technologies used in medical and advanced industrial applications. Its products include photonics and laser components, precision motion-control systems, machine-vision technologies, and related equipment and software.

The company’s technologies are used in areas such as medical and surgical systems, life sciences, robotics, and industrial automation. Novanta serves customers internationally, with operations and customers across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Novanta was formerly known as GSI Group and adopted the Novanta name in 2016.