An Insider At Novanta Lowered Their Holding Recently

Viewing insider transactions for Novanta Inc.'s (NASDAQ:NOVT ) over the last year, we see that insiders were net sellers. This means that a larger number of shares were sold by insiders in relation to shares purchased.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Novanta

The CEO & Chairman of the Board, Matthijs Glastra, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.3m worth of shares at a price of US$183 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$124). So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels. Matthijs Glastra was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Novanta insiders own about US$40m worth of shares. That equates to 0.9% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Novanta Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Novanta shares in the last quarter. Still, the insider transactions at Novanta in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Novanta, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.