Vestcor Inc Invests $291,000 in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,272 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 680,169 shares of the technology company's stock worth $103,910,000 after buying an additional 279,793 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 2,714.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 88,297 shares of the technology company's stock worth $13,489,000 after buying an additional 85,160 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 487,688 shares of the technology company's stock worth $74,504,000 after buying an additional 59,986 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novanta in the 4th quarter worth $7,901,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 31,357.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 51,276 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,557,000 after buying an additional 51,113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Novanta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday.

Novanta Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NOVT traded down $8.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $115.70. 1,028,474 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 250,402. The company's 50-day moving average price is $125.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.03 and a beta of 1.48. Novanta Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.76 and a 1-year high of $186.75.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last released 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 15.06% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $241.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $237.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novanta Company 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.