Legal & General Group Plc Boosts Stake in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Nova Ltd. by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, owning 145,427 shares worth about $48.6 million. Other major institutional investors also boosted positions, and institutions now hold 82.99% of the stock.
• Several Nova insiders sold shares recently, including directors Yaniv Garty and Eitan Oppenhaim, with insiders selling 2,411 shares total over the last three months. Corporate insiders currently own about 1.00% of the company.
• Analysts remain generally positive after Nova beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with Citigroup and Jefferies raising price targets. The stock has an average analyst rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $518.22.

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,427 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,280 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.49% of Nova worth $48,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Nova by 185.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 607,344 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $194,144,000 after purchasing an additional 394,544 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its position in Nova by 286.3% in the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 508,641 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $167,115,000 after purchasing an additional 376,974 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Nova in the third quarter valued at $79,915,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nova in the third quarter valued at $79,398,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Nova by 2,672.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 175,843 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $56,210,000 after purchasing an additional 169,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Yaniv Garty sold 426 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.49, for a total transaction of $219,172.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,048,530.62. The trade was a 17.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,463,892.64. The trade was a 18.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 2,411 shares of company stock valued at $1,243,018 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVMI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nova from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Nova from $520.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $494.00 price objective on Nova in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Nova from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nova currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $518.22.

Nova Price Performance

NVMI opened at $502.33 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $205.37 and a 12 month high of $565.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.63, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $494.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.20.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.13. Nova had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 29.21%.The firm had revenue of $235.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $227.02 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.18 EPS. Nova'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, research analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current 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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