Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Has $490.50 Million Stake in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Key Points

• Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings increased its stake in Nova to 1,493,657 shares—about 5.08% of the company—worth roughly $490.5 million, a 7.0% rise in Q4 and the fund's fifth-largest position.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive: eight analysts rate NVMI a Buy and two a Hold, with a consensus target of $442.25 and several firms setting price targets as high as $520.
• Nova slightly beat Q4 estimates (EPS $2.14 vs. $2.13; revenue $222.6M vs. $220.4M), reporting revenue up 14.3% year‑over‑year and a net margin of 29.44%.

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,493,657 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 98,000 shares during the period. Nova comprises about 4.2% of Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. owned approximately 5.08% of Nova worth $490,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 4.9% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,200,948 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $605,701,000 after purchasing an additional 102,250 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 6.4% during the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,428,607 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $456,669,000 after purchasing an additional 86,438 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nova by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,113,762 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $354,172,000 after buying an additional 10,441 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Nova by 185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 607,344 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $194,144,000 after buying an additional 394,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nova by 69.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 359,221 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $98,857,000 after buying an additional 146,932 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NVMI. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Nova from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $453.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Nova from $370.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Eight 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.com, Nova has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $442.25.

Nova Stock Down 0.8%

Nova stock opened at $527.75 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $458.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $391.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 5.47 and a current ratio of 6.28. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $171.34 and a one year high of $544.62.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $222.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.43 million. Nova had a net margin of 29.44% and a return on equity of 22.90%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Nova Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.