Novanta Inc. $NOVT Shares Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 207,053 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 14,969 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Novanta were worth $24,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOVT. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Novanta by 78.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,231 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Novanta by 1.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 419,037 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,582,000 after buying an additional 6,533 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Novanta by 1,762.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 61,631 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,881,000 after buying an additional 58,322 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Novanta during the second quarter valued at $528,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Novanta by 2.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 18,042 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,397,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Novanta Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NOVT opened at $159.33 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $134.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.56, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.46 and a beta of 1.67. Novanta Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.27 and a twelve month high of $165.56.

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

Insider Transactions at Novanta

In other Novanta news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of Novanta stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 96,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,281,850.32. The trade was a 9.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of Novanta stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.43, for a total transaction of $1,128,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,761 shares in the company, valued at $6,432,537.23. This trade represents a 14.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 23,957 shares of company stock worth $3,136,229 over the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on NOVT. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Novanta in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Novanta from $144.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novanta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.00.

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.