Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT - Free Report) by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,565 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 39,740 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.25% of Novanta worth $16,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Novanta by 1.6% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,350,651 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $241,658,000 after acquiring an additional 20,825 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Novanta by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,298,419 shares of the technology company's stock worth $232,313,000 after purchasing an additional 24,929 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novanta by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 960,152 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $156,610,000 after purchasing an additional 4,079 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novanta by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 780,046 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $139,566,000 after purchasing an additional 8,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Novanta by 10.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 734,728 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $131,457,000 after buying an additional 69,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird lowered 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Novanta

In other news, CEO Matthijs Glastra sold 7,500 shares of Novanta stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $1,347,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,131,845.40. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Buckley sold 3,660 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 120,419 shares in the company, valued at $20,954,110.19. This trade represents a 2.95 % 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 %

Shares of NASDAQ NOVT traded down $1.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $154.74. 127,187 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 149,695. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.66 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $167.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.99. Novanta Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.86 and a 52 week high of $187.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. The firm had revenue of $244.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $242.33 million. Novanta had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 EPS 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.