Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Novanta Inc. shares gapped up, opening at $120.32 following a previous close at $112.97, indicating positive market activity.
• Brokerages have downgraded Novanta’s rating; Wall Street Zen has lowered it from "buy" to "hold," while Robert W. Baird cut the price target from $139.00 to $133.00.
• Novanta reported quarterly earnings of $0.76 EPS, exceeding estimates and showing a 2.2% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $112.97, but opened at $120.32. Novanta shares last traded at $116.31, with a volume of 34,147 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on NOVT. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novanta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Novanta from $139.00 to $133.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.00.

Novanta Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 69.01 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $119.62 and a 200-day moving average of $123.44.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Novanta had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 6.41%.The firm had revenue of $241.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $237.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Novanta has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.220-3.360 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.780-0.850 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novanta

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novanta by 471.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,893 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,387 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Novanta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,025,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Novanta by 321.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,049 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 3,852 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Novanta by 30.7% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,191 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Novanta by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,100,029 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $141,827,000 after purchasing an additional 104,985 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company's stock.

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.

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