Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $174.17, but opened at $159.69. Novanta shares last traded at $156.94, with a volume of 32,489 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Novanta from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Novanta Stock Down 6.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 90.49 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $235.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $233.63 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 1,111 shares of Novanta stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.45, for a total value of $200,479.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 120,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,729,608.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 9,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,936 over the last quarter. 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 modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Novanta by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novanta in the third quarter worth $49,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novanta in the first quarter worth $52,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Novanta during the third quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Novanta by 38.3% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Novanta

Novanta Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides precision medicine and manufacturing, medical solutions, and robotics and automation solutions in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Precision Medicine and Manufacturing, Medical Solutions, and Robotics and Automation.