Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) is Wasatch Advisors LP’s 5th Largest Position

Wasatch Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,623,774 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 500,063 shares during the period. Nova accounts for 2.4% of Wasatch Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 9.15% of Nova worth $465,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its position in Nova by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 604,977 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $83,202,000 after acquiring an additional 259,021 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion bought a new stake in Nova in the fourth quarter worth $11,638,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nova during the fourth quarter worth $9,409,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Nova by 19.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 317,133 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,658,000 after buying an additional 52,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nova by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 142,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $19,519,000 after buying an additional 47,295 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NVMI shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Nova in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Nova in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, May 10th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Nova from $187.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.25.

Nova Price Performance

NVMI stock traded up $2.69 on Tuesday, reaching $235.54. 186,428 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 171,226. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 54.27, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.47. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $90.59 and a 12 month high of $242.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $209.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.02.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The semiconductor company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.29. Nova had a net margin of 26.26% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $141.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $136.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nova Company Profile

Nova Ltd. designs, develops, produces, and sells process control systems used in the manufacture of semiconductors in Israel, Taiwan, the United States, China, Korea, and internationally. Its product portfolio includes a set of metrology platforms for dimensional, films, and materials and chemical metrology measurements for process control for various semiconductor manufacturing process steps, including lithography, etch, chemical mechanical planarization, deposition, electrochemical plating, and advanced packaging.