Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 61.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 214,893 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,942 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Novanta were worth $37,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Novanta by 33.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novanta by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 23,379 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,183,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Novanta by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,598 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Novanta by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,526 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Novanta by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Novanta news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 1,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.45, for a total transaction of $200,479.95. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 120,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,729,608.55. The trade was a 0.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $1,347,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,131,845.40. This trade represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,271 shares of company stock worth $2,185,107. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Novanta Stock Performance

Shares of NOVT stock opened at $165.65 on Wednesday. Novanta Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.86 and a 52-week high of $187.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $171.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 99.19 and a beta of 1.26.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Novanta had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business had revenue of $244.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $242.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

About Novanta

Novanta Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides precision medicine and manufacturing, medical solutions, and robotics and automation solutions in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Precision Medicine and Manufacturing, Medical Solutions, and Robotics and Automation.