Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Trading 3.6% Higher

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)’s stock price traded up 3.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $176.67 and last traded at $176.67. 53,837 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 153,005 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Nova from $150.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Nova in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Nova Stock Down 3.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a PEG ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $172.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.35.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The semiconductor company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $134.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.00 million. Nova had a return on equity of 20.55% and a net margin of 26.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in shares of Nova by 74.9% during the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 604,977 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $83,202,000 after purchasing an additional 259,021 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Nova by 118.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 428,132 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,139,000 after acquiring an additional 231,862 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nova by 262.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 230,497 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,827,000 after acquiring an additional 166,836 shares during the period. Sphera Funds Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $18,135,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Nova in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,150,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

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.