Novanta Inc. $NOVT Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 92.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,888 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,328 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Novanta were worth $20,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOVT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Novanta by 1,114.5% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 391,148 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,173,000 after buying an additional 358,941 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Novanta by 101.6% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 627,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,803,000 after buying an additional 315,978 shares during the period. American Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novanta in the third quarter worth about $21,919,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Novanta by 949.1% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 213,868 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,419,000 after purchasing an additional 193,482 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novanta Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NOVT opened at $153.60 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $128.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.56. The firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.31 and a beta of 1.62. Novanta Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.27 and a 1 year high of $165.56.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $257.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $253.40 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 5.35%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company 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. Research analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Novanta

In other news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 9,957 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 96,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,281,850.32. This trade represents a 9.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 42,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,432,537.23. This represents a 14.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,380 shares of company stock valued at $3,336,701. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.