Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 4,107 Shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) by 220.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,969 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,107 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Novanta were worth $911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Novanta by 215.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 65,564 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,731,000 after buying an additional 44,756 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Novanta by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 120,566 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $18,419,000 after purchasing an additional 4,648 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,500 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novanta in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Novanta during the fourth quarter valued at $284,000. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Novanta from $169.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Novanta Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:NOVT traded down $1.77 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $120.13. 344,006 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 212,557. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.79. Novanta Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.76 and a 52-week high of $187.12. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $121.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 71.93 and a beta of 1.51.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.06. Novanta had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 6.52%. The company had revenue of $233.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novanta 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.