Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Price Target Raised to $240.00 at Benchmark

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) had its price target upped by Benchmark from $215.00 to $240.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NVMI. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Nova in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Nova from $223.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Nova in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $236.60.

Nova Trading Up 4.3 %

Nova stock traded up $9.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $225.44. The company had a trading volume of 297,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,418. Nova has a 12 month low of $90.59 and a 12 month high of $247.21. The company has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 51.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $220.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.19.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVMI. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nova during the second quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Nova by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Nova by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,038 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Nova during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new stake in Nova during the second quarter valued at about $205,000. 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.