Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Acquires New Position in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased 14,910 shares of Novanta Inc. in Q1, valued at roughly $1.9 million.
• Institutional investors own 98.35% of Novanta's stock, indicating significant institutional interest.
• Recently, Wall Street Zen upgraded Novanta from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, reflecting positive market sentiment towards the stock.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,910 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,907,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NOVT. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 69.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 2,714.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 81,397 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 59,986 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novanta during the fourth quarter worth $7,901,000. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NOVT shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Novanta from $139.00 to $133.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novanta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday.

Novanta Price Performance

Shares of Novanta stock traded up $4.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $125.38. The stock had a trading volume of 275,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,636. The stock's 50 day moving average is $125.18 and its 200 day moving average is $128.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 73.59 and a beta of 1.48. Novanta Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.76 and a twelve month high of $186.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $241.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $237.97 million. Novanta had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The company's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect 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.