James Investment Research Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Key Points

• James Investment Research cut its stake in Nova Ltd. by 15.1% in the first quarter, selling 6,702 shares and leaving it with 37,647 shares worth about $16.35 million.
• Insiders sold shares in recent months, including directors Sarit Sagiv and Eitan Oppenhaim; combined insider sales over the last three months totaled 4,832 shares worth $2.64 million.
• Nova reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and analysts remain largely positive with an average Moderate Buy rating and a $545.50 target price.

James Investment Research Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 15.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,647 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 6,702 shares during the period. Nova accounts for 1.8% of James Investment Research Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. James Investment Research Inc. owned about 0.12% of Nova worth $16,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Nova by 660.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,668 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,966,000 after acquiring an additional 9,265 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nova by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 376 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Nova in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,445,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Nova by 62.5% in 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. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Nova during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,886,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Nova

In related news, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.52, for a total value of $243,580.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,046,750.52. The trade was a 18.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.48, for a total value of $781,297.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,463,892.64. This represents a 18.40% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,832 shares of company stock valued at $2,638,410. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVMI. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Nova from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research cut Nova from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Nova from $500.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.50.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $502.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 62.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.74. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $232.73 and a 52-week high of $615.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $521.98 and a 200 day moving average of $461.59.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. Nova had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 29.21%.The business had revenue of $235.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.02 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Nova

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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