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

Key Points

• Novanta has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed a profit of $0.74 per share, exceeding the expected $0.68, with a revenue increase of 1.1% year-over-year.
• About 98.35% of Novanta's stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, showcasing strong institutional interest in the company.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

Novanta Price Performance

Shares of Novanta stock traded up $2.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $127.21. 170,079 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 258,328. The company has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.30 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.70. Novanta has a 52-week low of $98.76 and a 52-week high of $187.00.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $233.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.34 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Novanta will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Novanta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Novanta by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the technology company's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Novanta in the fourth quarter valued at $1,130,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Novanta by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,537 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,528 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Novanta by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,123,828 shares of the technology company's stock worth $629,997,000 after purchasing an additional 62,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Novanta by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 657,137 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $100,391,000 after acquiring an additional 6,525 shares during the period. 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.