Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 46.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 164,576 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 142,326 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Novanta were worth $25,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NOVT. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novanta during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Novanta in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Novanta by 6,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novanta in the third quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novanta during the third quarter worth $257,000. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novanta Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NOVT opened at $127.50 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.79. Novanta Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.42 and a 1 year high of $187.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 76.35 and a beta of 1.34.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Novanta had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Novanta from $169.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Novanta Company Profile

Novanta, Inc engages in the provision of core technology solutions to healthcare and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers. It operates through the following segments: Photonics, Vision, and Precision Motion. The Photonics segment designs, manufactures, and markets photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and laser beam delivery, CO2 laser, continuous wave and ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products.