Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake in Novanta Inc. $NOVT

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Novanta Inc. by 49.7% during the first quarter, now owning 16,096 shares valued at $2,058,000.
• Other institutional investors also raised their positions in Novanta, with some like Susquehanna International Group increasing their stake by 816.9% in the fourth quarter.
• Novanta posted better-than-expected earnings, reporting a net margin of 6.41% and $241.05 million in revenue for the recent quarter, indicating a year-over-year increase of 2.2%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) by 49.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,096 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,341 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Novanta were worth $2,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Novanta by 1.3% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,365,252 shares of the technology company's stock worth $174,575,000 after acquiring an additional 17,220 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Novanta by 9.5% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 934,035 shares of the technology company's stock worth $119,435,000 after acquiring an additional 81,397 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Novanta by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 487,688 shares of the technology company's stock worth $74,504,000 after acquiring an additional 59,986 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Novanta by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 457,225 shares of the technology company's stock worth $69,850,000 after acquiring an additional 41,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Novanta by 4.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 151,430 shares of the technology company's stock worth $19,362,000 after acquiring an additional 5,818 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.35% of the company's stock.

Novanta Price Performance

Shares of Novanta stock traded down $1.66 during trading on Friday, reaching $116.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 398,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 470,122. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Novanta Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.76 and a 12-month high of $186.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.48 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $123.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.82.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Novanta had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 6.41%.The firm had revenue of $241.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $237.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Novanta has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.220-3.360 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.780-0.850 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NOVT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novanta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Novanta from $139.00 to $133.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novanta has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.00.

About Novanta

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.