Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $130.50 and last traded at $130.82, with a volume of 15894 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Novanta from $169.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Novanta Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $143.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.93. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.95 and a beta of 1.34.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last announced its quarterly 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. Novanta had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Novanta

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOVT. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Novanta during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Novanta by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Novanta in the fourth quarter worth $97,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.