Insider Selling: Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) CEO Sells 6,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 6,500 shares on April 17 at an average price of $130.05 for $845,325, executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and reducing his holding by 10.27% to 56,761 shares (≈$7.38M).
• Novanta beat quarterly EPS expectations ($0.91 vs. $0.88) and set FY2026 guidance of $3.50–$3.65 (Q1 2026: $0.75–$0.80); analysts hold a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $144.00.

Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.05, for a total transaction of $845,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 56,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,381,768.05. This represents a 10.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Matthijs Glastra also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 10th, Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of Novanta stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.04, for a total transaction of $1,087,800.00.
• On Wednesday, January 21st, Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of Novanta stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,050,000.00.

Novanta Stock Performance

NOVT stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $132.40. 305,416 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 417,387. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.68 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 3.69 and a quick ratio of 2.80. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $128.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.88. Novanta Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.27 and a 1-year high of $149.95.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The technology company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $258.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $260.72 million. Novanta had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 13.12%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. Novanta has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.500-3.650 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.800 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Novanta Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novanta

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOVT. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 541 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 1.6% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,632 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 120.1% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Novanta by 17.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,627 shares of the technology company's stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Novanta by 1.4% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 18,287 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,908,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NOVT shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Novanta in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novanta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Novanta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $144.00 in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Novanta from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.00.

Novanta Company Profile

Novanta, Inc NASDAQ: NOVT is a global technology company that designs and manufactures precision components, subsystems and software used in advanced photonics and motion control applications. The company serves customers in the medical device and advanced industrial markets, supplying critical technologies for diagnostics and therapeutic systems, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, and scientific instrumentation. Novanta's product portfolio includes laser control modules, optics, beam delivery systems, high-precision motors, actuators, stages, and fluidics solutions designed to meet stringent accuracy and reliability requirements.

Novanta's Photonics segment delivers laser and energy delivery components that enable minimally invasive surgical procedures and diagnostic imaging.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.