Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $20.81 Million Stake in Novanta Inc. $NOVT

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 125.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 176,221 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 98,133 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Novanta were worth $20,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOVT. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Novanta by 78.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,231 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novanta by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 419,037 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,582,000 after purchasing an additional 6,533 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novanta by 1,762.5% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 61,631 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,881,000 after purchasing an additional 58,322 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Novanta in the 2nd quarter valued at $528,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 18,042 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Novanta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 price target on Novanta in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Novanta in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.00.

Novanta Price Performance

Shares of Novanta stock opened at $145.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.56, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.69 and a beta of 1.67. Novanta Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.27 and a 1-year high of $171.85.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $257.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $253.40 million. Novanta had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Novanta’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novanta Inc. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 6,500 shares of Novanta stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.13, for a total value of $1,047,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 29,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,795,389.93. The trade was a 17.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.20% 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.