Amundi Increases Holdings in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Key Points

• Amundi increased its Nova stake by 139% in the first quarter, acquiring 31,678 additional shares for a total of 54,473 shares worth approximately $23.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.99% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with eight Buy ratings and three Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $556.67. Nova also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.33 in EPS and $235.31 million in revenue.
• Nova shares opened at $393.69, well below their 12-month high of $615.99. Company insiders sold 7,798 shares worth about $4.1 million over the past 90 days, although the transactions were made under pre-arranged trading plans.

Amundi grew its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 139.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,473 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,678 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.17% of Nova worth $23,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,200,948 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $605,701,000 after acquiring an additional 102,250 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 47.5% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,166,073 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $940,683,000 after purchasing an additional 697,210 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in Nova by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,493,657 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $490,502,000 after buying an additional 98,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Nova by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,128,957 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $377,402,000 after acquiring an additional 15,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Nova by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 634,284 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $208,293,000 after purchasing an additional 26,940 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NVMI. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Nova from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nova from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $556.67.

Nova Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $393.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $489.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $476.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.78. Nova Ltd. has a 12-month low of $232.73 and a 12-month high of $615.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. Nova had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 29.21%.The company had revenue of $235.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $227.02 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.18 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nova

In other Nova news, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of Nova stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $1,046,750.52. The trade was a 18.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total transaction of $1,486,855.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 28,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,394,328.20. The trade was a 9.36% 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. Insiders sold a total of 7,798 shares of company stock worth $4,125,266 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nova 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.

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