Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 61,263 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 52.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,582 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 61,263 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.19% of Nova worth $10,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Nova by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Nova by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Nova by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of Nova by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Nova by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 4,742 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nova Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ NVMI traded down $6.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $222.19. 162,332 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 237,238. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $196.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.30. The stock has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.61. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $154.00 and a one year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $213.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.10 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The company's revenue was up 50.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $277.00.

Nova Profile

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.