567,834 Shares in Nova Ltd. $NVMI Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 567,834 Nova shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $308.3 million, giving it a 1.79% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 82.99% of the company.
• Nova exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.51 in EPS and $254.96 million in revenue, with revenue up 15.9% year over year. The board also authorized a $200 million share-repurchase program.
• Nova shares opened at $339.25, well below their 12-month high of $615.99. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $514.44, although insiders sold $3.42 million worth of stock over the past 90 days.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 567,834 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $308,300,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 1.79% of Nova at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Nova during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 280 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Nova

In other news, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.52, for a total value of $243,580.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,046,750.52. This represents a 18.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total value of $749,748.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,942 shares of company stock worth $3,419,027. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nova Price Performance

Nova stock opened at $339.25 on Thursday. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $266.43 and a 12 month high of $615.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $397.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $459.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.76.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $254.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.33 million. Nova had a net margin of 28.84% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business's revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Nova declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, September 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on NVMI. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Nova from $640.00 to $570.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Evercore set a $475.00 price target on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Nova in a report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nova currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $514.44.

Nova Profile

Nova Ltd. NASDAQ: NVMI is an Israel-based provider of metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company develops systems that help chip manufacturers measure and control critical process parameters during wafer fabrication, supporting the production of increasingly small and complex semiconductor devices.

Nova's product portfolio includes optical and x-ray metrology systems, dimensional and materials measurement solutions, chemical metrology tools, and integrated metrology systems that can be incorporated into semiconductor production equipment.

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