LPL Financial LLC Acquires 3,528 Shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,537 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,528 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Novanta worth $3,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novanta during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Novanta in the fourth quarter worth $97,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Novanta by 6,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,500 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novanta in the 3rd quarter worth about $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Novanta from $169.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Novanta Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NOVT traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $113.78. The company had a trading volume of 38,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 286,311. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.06 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.79. Novanta Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.76 and a 52-week high of $187.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $132.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.73.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Novanta had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $240.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.