Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $16.20 Million Stock Position in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 30.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 90,565 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 39,740 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Novanta worth $16,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Novanta by 61.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 214,893 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,916,000 after purchasing an additional 81,942 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Novanta by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,469 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novanta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $232,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Novanta by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,619 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Novanta by 215.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 65,564 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,731,000 after purchasing an additional 44,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert Buckley sold 3,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.01, for a total transaction of $636,876.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 120,419 shares in the company, valued at $20,954,110.19. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $1,347,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,131,845.40. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Novanta Stock Performance

Shares of Novanta stock opened at $154.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $167.94 and a 200-day moving average of $170.91. Novanta Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.86 and a 1-year high of $187.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 92.66 and a beta of 1.26.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Novanta had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $244.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $242.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Novanta from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

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.