Legal & General Group Plc Increases Stock Position in Novanta Inc. $NOVT

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its Novanta stake by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 207,053 shares worth about $24.6 million.
• Novanta’s latest earnings beat expectations, with Q1 EPS of $0.81 versus the $0.78 estimate and revenue of $257.7 million, up 10.4% year over year.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: Robert W. Baird raised its price target to $173 and kept an outperform rating, while the overall consensus remains Hold.

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 207,053 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 14,969 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.58% of Novanta worth $24,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOVT. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novanta by 78.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,231 shares of the technology company's stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novanta by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 419,037 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,582,000 after buying an additional 6,533 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novanta by 1,762.5% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 61,631 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,881,000 after buying an additional 58,322 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Novanta in the 2nd quarter worth about $528,000. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Novanta by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 18,042 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.43, for a total transaction of $1,128,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,432,537.23. This represents a 14.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 23,957 shares of company stock valued at $3,136,229 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Novanta Price Performance

Shares of NOVT opened at $159.33 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $134.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.80. Novanta Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.27 and a fifty-two week high of $165.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 115.46 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.56.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $253.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Novanta has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.500-3.650 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.810-0.860 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Novanta Inc. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novanta 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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