HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 6,132 Shares of Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors cut its Nova position by 36.7% in the second quarter, selling 6,132 shares and retaining 10,578 shares valued at approximately $5.7 million. Institutional investors own 82.99% of Nova’s stock.
• Nova reported a quarterly earnings beat, with EPS of $2.51 versus estimates of $2.41 and revenue of $254.96 million, up 15.9% year over year. The company also authorized a $200 million share buyback, representing up to 1.9% of outstanding shares.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Nova receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $514.44, despite several recent target-price reductions. The stock opened at $366.03, well below its 52-week high of $615.99.

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,578 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 6,132 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Nova were worth $5,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Nova during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nova in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nova in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Nova by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Nova Stock Performance

NVMI stock opened at $366.03 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $406.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $462.61. The company has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.76. Nova Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $266.43 and a fifty-two week high of $615.99.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.10. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%.The firm had revenue of $254.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $250.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Nova announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, September 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other Nova news, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total transaction of $513,405.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,314,535.78. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Yaniv Garty sold 366 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total transaction of $212,719.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,887.20. This trade represents a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,942 shares of company stock worth $3,419,027. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVMI. Citigroup dropped their price target on Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Nova from $640.00 to $570.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Nova from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nova from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Nova presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $514.44.

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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