Novanta Inc. $NOVT Stock Sold by Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Conestoga Capital Advisors cut its Novanta stake by 31.7% in the third quarter, selling 385,751 shares; it retained 832,212 shares valued at about $118.3 million.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Novanta has a consensus Hold rating and a $194 price target, with one Buy and two Hold ratings reported.
• Novanta’s latest reported quarter beat estimates, with EPS of $0.89 versus $0.83 expected and revenue up 10.3% year over year to $265.8 million.

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) by 31.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 832,212 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 385,751 shares during the period. Novanta comprises 3.6% of Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 2.20% of Novanta worth $118,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Novanta by 7.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,436,785 shares of the technology company's stock worth $233,005,000 after buying an additional 97,621 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Novanta by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,776,694 shares of the technology company's stock worth $210,307,000 after acquiring an additional 377,232 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 979,842 shares of the technology company's stock worth $139,324,000 after acquiring an additional 6,075 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in Novanta in the second quarter valued at about $137,984,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novanta during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $124,254,000. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Novanta from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $194.00 target price on shares of Novanta in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novanta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Novanta in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novanta currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $194.00.

Novanta Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Novanta stock opened at $145.23 on Thursday. Novanta Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.27 and a 1 year high of $176.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 4.57 and a quick ratio of 3.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $142.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.56. The company has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.10 and a beta of 1.71.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.06. Novanta had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 10.83%. The business had revenue of $265.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novanta Inc. will post 3.70 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novanta Company Profile

Novanta Inc is a technology company that develops and manufactures precision equipment and components used primarily in medical and advanced industrial applications. Its solutions are designed to support the movement, imaging, measurement and processing functions of complex equipment.

The company's products include photonics and laser components, precision motion-control systems, medical imaging and visualization technologies, and equipment used in minimally invasive and robotic surgery.

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