Amundi Purchases 10,690 Shares of Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Key Points

• Amundi increased its Nova stake by 19.6% in the second quarter, purchasing 10,690 shares and bringing its holdings to 65,163 shares valued at approximately $35.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.99% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Nova rated “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $514.44; recent targets range from $540 to $600.
• Nova exceeded quarterly expectations with $2.51 in EPS and $254.96 million in revenue, while revenue rose 15.9% year over year. The company also authorized a $200 million share buyback, covering up to 1.9% of outstanding shares.

Amundi boosted its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 19.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 65,163 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,690 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.21% of Nova worth $35,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Nova during the second quarter worth $38,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Nova during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Nova in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Nova by 75.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 2,042.9% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NVMI. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Nova from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nova has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $514.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In related news, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 1,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,046,750.52. The trade was a 18.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Yaniv Garty sold 366 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total value of $212,719.20. Following the sale, the director owned 2,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,887.20. The trade was a 15.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,942 shares of company stock valued at $3,419,027. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Nova Stock Performance

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $366.03 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 52 week low of $266.43 and a 52 week high of $615.99. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $406.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $462.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.76.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Nova declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Nova

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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