Novanta Inc (NASDAQ:NOVT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 29th, there was short interest totalling 674,200 shares, an increase of 10.7% from the November 14th total of 609,100 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 145,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.
Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Novanta from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BidaskClub raised Novanta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.
In other Novanta news, Director Stephen W. Bershad sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.28, for a total transaction of $34,912,000.00. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOVT. Strs Ohio grew its position in Novanta by 45.5% in the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 3,200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novanta by 112.8% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,416 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. now owns 8,840 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Aviva PLC purchased a new position in shares of Novanta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,739,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Novanta during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,874,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.83% of the company’s stock.
NASDAQ:NOVT traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $91.50. The stock had a trading volume of 181,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,121. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 42.36 and a beta of 1.48. Novanta has a 52 week low of $57.07 and a 52 week high of $96.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.06.
Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. Novanta had a net margin of 6.94% and a return on equity of 20.01%. The company had revenue of $154.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $155.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. Novanta’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Novanta will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.
About Novanta
Novanta Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, markets, and sells photonics, vision, and precision motion components and sub-systems to original equipment manufacturers in the medical and industrial markets worldwide. The company’s Photonics segment offers photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and laser beam delivery, CO2 laser, continuous wave and ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products for photonics-based applications, such as industrial material processing, metrology, medical and life science imaging, DNA sequencing, and medical laser procedures.
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