Nova Ltd. $NVMI is Y.D. More Investments Ltd's 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its Nova Ltd. stake by 15.3% in the first quarter, making NVMI its 3rd largest holding. The fund now owns 377,579 shares worth about $161.9 million.
• Several Nova insiders sold shares recently, including CEO Gabriel Waisman and Director Eitan Oppenhaim, both through pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans. Insiders sold 7,798 shares in the last quarter overall.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on Nova, with seven Buy ratings and three Hold ratings and an average Moderate Buy rating. The stock last traded at $475.90, and Nova recently beat earnings and revenue expectations for the quarter.

Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 15.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 377,579 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,154 shares during the quarter. Nova makes up approximately 6.2% of Y.D. More Investments Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Y.D. More Investments Ltd owned about 1.19% of Nova worth $161,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in Nova by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 20,148 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,750,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nova by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 987 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Nova by 309.1% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 949 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nova by 2.7% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,124 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 3.7% during the first quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 572,189 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $247,326,000 after acquiring an additional 20,345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In related news, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total value of $1,486,855.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 28,714 shares in the company, valued at $14,394,328.20. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,290 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total transaction of $749,748.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,731,885.20. This trade represents a 16.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 7,798 shares of company stock worth $4,125,266. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on NVMI. Weiss Ratings lowered Nova from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Nova from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Nova from $520.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $551.25.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $475.90 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $514.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $468.83. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $232.73 and a 52-week high of $615.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $235.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.02 million. Nova had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 29.21%.The firm's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.18 earnings per share. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 9.46 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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