Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Price Target Lowered to $300.00 at Cantor Fitzgerald

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) had its price target decreased by Cantor Fitzgerald from $315.00 to $300.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nova currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.83.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $219.13 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $240.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.36. Nova has a 52-week low of $158.00 and a 52-week high of $289.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The business had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nova will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Nova by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,658 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Nova by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 98,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $19,427,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304 shares during the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter worth about $335,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Nova by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 29,120 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,735,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Nova during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,232,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.