State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Stock Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,041 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,224 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.06% of Nova worth $3,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 438.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Nova by 89.7% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Nova by 31.4% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Nova by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nova during the 3rd quarter valued at $257,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nova Trading Up 0.0 %

NVMI opened at $273.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $227.68 and a 200 day moving average of $209.36. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $154.54 and a 12 month high of $289.90. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 47.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.44.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.50 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. Research analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Nova in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment 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.com, Nova has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.67.

Nova 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.