Blair William & Co. IL Decreases Stock Holdings in Novanta Inc. $NOVT

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL cut its stake in Novanta by 48.9%, selling 126,931 shares and reducing its holding to 132,427 shares worth about $13.26 million (≈0.37% of the company).
• Insiders have been net sellers: the CEO sold 7,500 shares at $145.04 and the CFO sold 1,423 shares at $140.88, with insiders offloading 24,346 shares (~$3.38M) in the past three months and now owning 1.20% of the stock.
• Novanta slightly beat EPS (Q: $0.91 vs. $0.88 est.), issued FY2026 guidance of 3.50–3.65 EPS, and carries a consensus price target of $150

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its holdings in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) by 48.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,427 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 126,931 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.37% of Novanta worth $13,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NOVT. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Novanta during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Novanta in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 65.7% during the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 492 shares of the technology company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 47.1% during the third quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 987 shares of the technology company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novanta in the second quarter worth about $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.35% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NOVT. Zacks Research upgraded Novanta from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on Novanta in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Novanta from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 1,423 shares of Novanta stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.88, for a total value of $200,472.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 93,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,216,516.32. The trade was a 1.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.04, for a total transaction of $1,087,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 57,367 shares in the company, valued at $8,320,509.68. This represents a 11.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,346 shares of company stock valued at $3,382,737 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Novanta Trading Down 3.9%

NASDAQ:NOVT opened at $131.22 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.88 and a beta of 1.61. Novanta Inc. has a one year low of $98.27 and a one year high of $149.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 3.69. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $134.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.05.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The technology company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Novanta had a return on equity of 13.12% and a net margin of 5.49%.The firm had revenue of $258.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Novanta has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.500-3.650 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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