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

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 90,565 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 39,740 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Novanta were worth $16,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Novanta by 33.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Novanta by 0.3% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 23,379 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,183,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Novanta by 2.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,598 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Novanta by 1.3% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,526 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Novanta by 38.3% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Novanta

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

Novanta Stock Down 1.1 %

Novanta stock opened at $154.74 on Friday. Novanta Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.86 and a 1-year high of $187.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.66 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $167.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Novanta had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $244.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $242.33 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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