HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 5,603 Shares of Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC cut its Nova Ltd. stake by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,603 shares and ending with 17,330 shares valued at about $5.69 million.
• Nova reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $2.33 EPS on $235.31 million in revenue, while also guiding Q2 2026 EPS in the range of 2.340 to 2.480.
• Wall Street remains constructive on the stock, with multiple firms raising price targets and the consensus rating at Moderate Buy; however, insiders also sold shares recently, including two directors under pre-arranged trading plans.

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,330 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 5,603 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Nova worth $5,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nova in the third quarter worth about $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Nova by 75.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Nova by 2,042.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nova by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 376 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Nova by 62.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nova Stock Down 2.9%

Nova stock opened at $512.15 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $492.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $422.25. The stock has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.78. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $199.10 and a 12 month high of $565.00.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $235.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $227.02 million. Nova had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 29.21%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.18 EPS. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NVMI. Citigroup increased their target price on Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $494.00 target price on Nova in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Nova from $500.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $518.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other Nova news, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 426 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.49, for a total value of $219,172.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,253,812.13. This represents a 14.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Yaniv Garty sold 426 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.49, for a total value of $219,172.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,048,530.62. This trade represents a 17.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 2,411 shares of company stock valued at $1,243,018 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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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