Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. 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 changing hands.

The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.01). Novanta had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.91%. The firm had revenue of $244.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $242.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Novanta’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Novanta from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 4,379 shares of Novanta stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.20, for a total transaction of $771,579.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 120,419 shares in the company, valued at $21,217,827.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 9,150 shares of company stock worth $1,608,936 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Novanta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novanta by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,861,416 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $674,860,000 after buying an additional 45,937 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Novanta in the first quarter worth $780,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Novanta by 750.4% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,588 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,724,000 after purchasing an additional 13,755 shares during the period. Clearline Capital LP boosted its holdings in Novanta by 71.1% in the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 11,497 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 4,778 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Novanta by 33.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Novanta Trading Up 10.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.17 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Novanta Company Profile

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.