Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $144.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $150.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on NOVT. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Novanta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Novanta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.00.

Novanta Stock Performance

NOVT stock opened at $118.37 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.08 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.33. Novanta has a fifty-two week low of $98.27 and a fifty-two week high of $149.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The technology company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Novanta had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 13.12%. The firm had revenue of $258.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. Novanta has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.500-3.650 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Novanta will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Novanta news, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.04, for a total value of $1,087,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 57,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,320,509.68. The trade was a 11.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.77, for a total transaction of $1,162,678.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 96,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,281,850.32. The trade was a 9.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,303 shares of company stock worth $4,545,416. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Novanta

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Novanta by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,378,888 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $438,546,000 after purchasing an additional 193,366 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,458,259 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $173,518,000 after purchasing an additional 47,540 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,399,462 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,536,000 after purchasing an additional 604,055 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Novanta by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,319,474 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $157,004,000 after buying an additional 13,603 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Novanta by 10.6% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,100,029 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $141,827,000 after buying an additional 104,985 shares in the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.