Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Up 5.6% – Should You Buy?

Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) shares traded up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $148.50 and last traded at $146.02. 280,266 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 32% from the average session volume of 212,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $138.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Novanta from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Novanta Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.73 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.29 million. Novanta had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 15.20%. Novanta’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novanta

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Novanta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Novanta during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Novanta by 482.1% during 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 during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Novanta by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Novanta in the 4th quarter valued at about $97,000. 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.