Carnegie Investment Counsel Purchases Shares of 2,859 Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel has acquired 2,859 shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) worth approximately $527,000, as reported in its most recent SEC filing.
• Nova Ltd. reported quarterly earnings of $2.18 per share, beating analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $213.36 million, up 50.5% year-over-year.
• Several analysts adjusted their price targets for Nova, with Citigroup and Benchmark lowering their targets to $280, while Cantor Fitzgerald increased its target to $300, maintaining a buy rating.

Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,859 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $527,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Nova by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,411,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $474,980,000 after purchasing an additional 796,629 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 3.7% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,212,485 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $223,497,000 after purchasing an additional 42,860 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,047,782 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $205,985,000 after purchasing an additional 14,667 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 674,453 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $132,834,000 after purchasing an additional 13,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Nova by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 600,868 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $118,341,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Nova Trading Down 1.1%

NVMI opened at $258.62 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $153.99 and a 1-year high of $291.99. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $242.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.78. The stock has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 39.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.66.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.10. Nova had a return on equity of 23.98% and a net margin of 28.46%. The business had revenue of $213.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 50.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Nova in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Nova from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nova presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.50.

About Nova

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVMI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.