Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Position in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 157,818 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 57,075 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.44% of Novanta worth $24,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Novanta by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,412 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Novanta by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Novanta by 4.5% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,619 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novanta during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novanta by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Novanta Stock Performance

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

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.29 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 6.52%. Novanta’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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.