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

Key Points

• Novanta's stock was downgraded from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen in a recent research report.
• The company reported $0.76 earnings per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.74, with revenues up 2.2% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors hold a significant stake in Novanta, owning 98.35% of the company's stock, with notable increases in holdings from several hedge funds recently.

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

Novanta Price Performance

NASDAQ:NOVT traded down $5.32 on Monday, hitting $119.56. The company had a trading volume of 122,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 286,884. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Novanta has a 52 week low of $98.76 and a 52 week high of $186.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $125.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.36 and a beta of 1.48.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Novanta had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The business had revenue of $241.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $237.97 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Novanta will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novanta

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novanta by 1,426.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 229 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novanta in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novanta by 482.1% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 326 shares of the technology company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Novanta by 146.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 401 shares of the technology company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Novanta by 329.8% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 404 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company's stock.

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.