Legal & General Group Plc Invests $82.53 Million in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 156,084 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,530,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Nova during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nova in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nova during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Nova by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Nova by 2,042.9% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Yaniv Garty sold 366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total transaction of $212,719.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,887.20. The trade was a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,290 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total value of $749,748.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,731,885.20. This trade represents a 16.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,442 shares of company stock worth $2,905,622. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Evercore set a $475.00 target price on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $514.44.

Nova Stock Performance

Nova stock opened at $370.92 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $232.73 and a one year high of $615.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $439.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $469.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.78.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $254.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.33 million. Nova had a net margin of 28.84% and a return on equity of 21.41%. Nova’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Nova Company Profile

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies advanced metrology and process control systems for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company’s core product line includes spectroscopic ellipsometry and scatterometry tools designed to measure film thickness, critical dimensions, overlay alignment and other key parameters that drive yield and performance in integrated circuit fabrication.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, Nova Measuring Instruments has established itself as a critical partner to leading semiconductor foundries and device manufacturers.