Man Group plc Raises Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Man Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 1,521.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,580 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 24,002 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned 0.09% of Nova worth $5,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 796,629 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Nova by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 600,868 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $118,341,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in Nova by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $272,517,000 after purchasing an additional 101,470 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in Nova by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,370,985 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $270,015,000 after purchasing an additional 97,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in Nova by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 296,307 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $58,423,000 after purchasing an additional 67,734 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ:NVMI traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $183.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 122,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,928. The business's fifty day moving average is $187.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.22. The stock has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $154.00 and a 1 year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $213.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.10 million. Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The company's revenue was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on NVMI. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nova from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price objective on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nova currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $277.00.

Nova Company Profile

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.