William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 975,841 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,361 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 2.72% of Novanta worth $149,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Novanta during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Novanta during the 4th quarter worth $97,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 6,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,059 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Associated Banc Corp purchased a new position in shares of Novanta in the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. 98.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novanta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NOVT opened at $136.07 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $145.79 and its 200 day moving average is $161.28. 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 $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.48 and a beta of 1.34. Novanta Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.17 and a fifty-two week high of $187.12.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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.