Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its holdings in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,907,841 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 157,292 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 5.31% of Novanta worth $291,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NOVT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Novanta during the fourth quarter worth $48,442,000. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novanta during the fourth quarter worth about $15,104,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Novanta by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 271,583 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,359,000 after buying an additional 93,511 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 61.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 214,893 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,916,000 after buying an additional 81,942 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Novanta by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 852,638 shares of the technology company's stock worth $130,257,000 after acquiring an additional 72,592 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novanta Trading Up 1.0 %

Novanta stock traded up $1.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $120.06. The company had a trading volume of 49,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 198,124. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.96 and a beta of 1.42. Novanta Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.76 and a 12-month high of $187.12. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $126.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.70.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $240.29 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 6.52%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Novanta from $169.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

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.