6,420 Nova Ltd. $NVMI Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management reduced its Nova stake by 23.3%, selling 6,420 shares during the third quarter and retaining 21,081 shares valued at approximately $7.94 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 82.99% of the company.
• Nova’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $2.51 versus the $2.41 consensus and revenue of $254.96 million, up 15.9% year over year. The board also authorized a $200 million share-buyback program covering up to 1.9% of outstanding shares.
• NVMI shares opened at $319.10, well below their 52-week high of $615.99. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $499.44, although recent target adjustments and ratings have been mixed.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 23.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,081 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 6,420 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.07% of Nova worth $7,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Nova by 214.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 154 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Nova in the second quarter worth $276,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Nova by 4.9% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,383 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Nova by 688.9% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 71 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Nova by 175.0% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nova Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NVMI opened at $319.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.88, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.79. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $266.43 and a 1-year high of $615.99. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $367.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $446.36.

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

Nova announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Nova

In related news, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total transaction of $1,403,713.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,777,461.52. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total value of $513,405.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,314,535.78. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Nova in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nova from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Evercore set a $475.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.44.

About Nova

Nova Ltd. NASDAQ: NVMI develops and supplies metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Its systems help chipmakers measure and control critical dimensions, film thickness, material properties and other characteristics during the production of integrated circuits.

The company's product portfolio includes optical and X-ray metrology systems, chemical metrology solutions, and related software and analytics tools. These technologies are used in multiple stages of semiconductor fabrication, including front-end wafer processing and advanced packaging, to support process development, yield improvement and manufacturing control.

Founded in 1993, Nova is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, and serves semiconductor manufacturers and other industry customers through operations and support activities across North America, Europe and Asia.

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