Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Purchased by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) by 69.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 680,169 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 279,793 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 1.89% of Novanta worth $103,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Novanta during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Novanta by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 430 shares of the technology company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Novanta in the 4th quarter valued at about $97,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 6,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,500 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.35% of the company's stock.

Novanta Price Performance

NOVT stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $117.65. 50,454 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 197,879. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $127.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.91. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.45 and a beta of 1.42. Novanta Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.76 and a fifty-two week high of $187.12.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.76 EPS 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 net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm's revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Research analysts predict that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Novanta from $169.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

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.