Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 26.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 157,818 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 57,075 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Novanta were worth $24,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOVT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,123,828 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $629,997,000 after buying an additional 62,585 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Novanta by 2.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,298,419 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $232,313,000 after purchasing an additional 24,929 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Novanta by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,004,879 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $153,515,000 after purchasing an additional 58,864 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novanta by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 975,841 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $149,079,000 after purchasing an additional 11,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 852,638 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $130,257,000 after purchasing an additional 72,592 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novanta Stock Performance

Shares of Novanta stock opened at $104.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.35 and a beta of 1.42. Novanta Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.71 and a 52 week high of $187.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $139.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.79.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About Novanta

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.