Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $164.34, but opened at $151.33. Novanta shares last traded at $164.8150, with a volume of 89,925 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NOVT shares. Wall Street Zen cut Novanta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Novanta in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 target price on Novanta in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.00.

Novanta Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.56 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.28. The company has a current ratio of 3.56, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Insider Activity at Novanta

In other news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.77, for a total transaction of $1,162,678.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 96,616 shares in the company, valued at $11,281,850.32. This represents a 9.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,432,537.23. This represents a 14.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 23,957 shares of company stock worth $3,136,229 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novanta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOVT. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Novanta during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 978.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 399 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 120.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Novanta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novanta by 1,291.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 487 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in 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.