Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Novanta in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Novanta in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.00.

Novanta Stock Performance

NOVT stock opened at $157.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.17 and a beta of 1.68. Novanta has a 1 year low of $98.27 and a 1 year high of $171.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $149.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.61.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Novanta had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 5.35%.The company had revenue of $257.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $253.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Novanta’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Novanta has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.500-3.650 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.810-0.860 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novanta will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Novanta

In related news, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.43, for a total value of $1,128,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,432,537.23. This trade represents a 14.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Novanta

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Novanta by 12.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 778 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 541 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Novanta by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Novanta by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 10,746 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

About Novanta

Novanta, Inc (NASDAQ: NOVT) is a global technology company that designs and manufactures precision components, subsystems and software used in advanced photonics and motion control applications. The company serves customers in the medical device and advanced industrial markets, supplying critical technologies for diagnostics and therapeutic systems, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, and scientific instrumentation. Novanta’s product portfolio includes laser control modules, optics, beam delivery systems, high-precision motors, actuators, stages, and fluidics solutions designed to meet stringent accuracy and reliability requirements.

Novanta’s Photonics segment delivers laser and energy delivery components that enable minimally invasive surgical procedures and diagnostic imaging.