Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) from a "buy" to a "hold"; MarketBeat data shows a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $144.00.
• Novanta beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.91 vs. $0.88) but missed revenue slightly ($258.35M vs. $260.72M) and issued FY2026 guidance of 3.500–3.650 EPS with Q1 2026 guidance of 0.750–0.800 EPS.
• Insiders have been selling: the CEO and CFO sold shares recently (total insiders sold 27,803 shares worth ~$3.7M in the last 90 days), reducing insider ownership to about 1.20%.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Novanta from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Novanta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $144.00 in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Novanta from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $144.00.

Novanta Stock Up 2.3%

NOVT stock opened at $128.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.25 and a beta of 1.64. Novanta has a 52 week low of $98.27 and a 52 week high of $149.95. The company's 50-day moving average price is $128.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The technology company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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, research analysts expect that Novanta will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Novanta news, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.04, for a total value of $1,087,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 57,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,320,509.68. This represents a 11.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.77, for a total transaction of $1,162,678.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 96,616 shares in the company, valued at $11,281,850.32. This trade represents a 9.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 27,803 shares of company stock worth $3,700,370 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Novanta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 4.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,378,888 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $438,546,000 after purchasing an additional 193,366 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,458,259 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $173,518,000 after purchasing an additional 47,540 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,399,462 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $155,536,000 after purchasing an additional 604,055 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,319,474 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $157,004,000 after purchasing an additional 13,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Novanta by 10.6% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,100,029 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $141,827,000 after buying an additional 104,985 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company's stock.

About Novanta

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.

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