33,210 Shares in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 33,210 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $6,541,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.11% of Nova at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Nova by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 4,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Nova by 47.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,852 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in Nova by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Nova by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,142 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,155,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Nova by 115.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 661,282 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $146,515,000 after buying an additional 353,906 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NVMI shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup raised Nova from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark raised 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 analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.60.

Nova Stock Down 1.2 %

NVMI stock traded down $2.27 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 223,846. The company has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63. The company's fifty day moving average is $202.51 and its 200-day moving average is $206.89. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $154.00 and a 1 year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS 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 return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. Analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

About Nova

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.