Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Stock Price Up 6.7% – Still a Buy?

Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)’s share price was up 6.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $135.18 and last traded at $135.5290. Approximately 544,958 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 72% from the average daily volume of 316,889 shares. The stock had previously closed at $127.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOVT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Novanta from $139.00 to $133.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Novanta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novanta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Novanta from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Novanta Trading Up 7.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $112.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.56. The stock has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 79.92 and a beta of 1.49.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $241.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.97 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 6.41%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. Novanta has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.220-3.360 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.780-0.850 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novanta declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 18th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Novanta

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOVT. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Novanta by 1.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,376 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Novanta by 80.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 414 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.