Norges Bank Buys Shares of 426,244 Novanta Inc. $NOVT

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 426,244 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,719,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.19% of Novanta as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Novanta by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 541 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Novanta by 1.6% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,632 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novanta by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Novanta by 17.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,627 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Novanta by 1.4% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 18,287 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Novanta

In other news, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.43, for a total value of $1,128,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 42,761 shares in the company, valued at $6,432,537.23. This represents a 14.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 96,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,281,850.32. The trade was a 9.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,957 shares of company stock valued at $3,136,229 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novanta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Novanta from $144.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Novanta in a report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.00.

Novanta Price Performance

Novanta stock opened at $156.29 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 113.25 and a beta of 1.68. Novanta Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.27 and a twelve month high of $171.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $138.68 and a 200-day moving average of $130.82.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $257.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $253.40 million. Novanta had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Novanta Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novanta Profile

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.