Nova Ltd. $NVMI Shares Purchased by Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.

Key Points

• Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings increased its Nova stake 5.3%, buying 86,000 shares to hold about 1.71 million shares, or 5.37% of the company, valued at roughly $657 million.
• Nova’s latest quarter topped analyst estimates: EPS was $2.86 versus $2.77 expected, while revenue rose 28.2% year over year to $287.8 million.
• Analysts cut several price targets, though the consensus rating remained “Moderate Buy” with a $470 average target. Shares fell 3.0% to $317.86 in Friday trading.

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,706,657 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 86,000 shares during the period. Nova comprises 4.1% of Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. owned approximately 5.37% of Nova worth $657,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nova during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,675,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Nova by 51.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,332 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $6,224,000 after acquiring an additional 4,844 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Nova by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,444 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 4,238 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Nova in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,647,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Nova by 338.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 190,399 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $82,434,000 after acquiring an additional 146,959 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NVMI. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Nova from $600.00 to $460.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Nova from $570.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Citigroup downgraded Nova from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $415.00 in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Nova from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $470.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other news, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of Nova stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total value of $513,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 27,214 shares in the company, valued at $9,314,535.78. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total transaction of $1,403,713.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,409 shares in the company, valued at $7,777,461.52. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,820 shares of company stock valued at $2,717,775. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nova Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of Nova stock traded down $9.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $317.86. The company had a trading volume of 295,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,133. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $344.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $433.87. Nova Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $266.43 and a fifty-two week high of $615.99. The firm has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 6.21 and a quick ratio of 5.39.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.09. Nova had a net margin of 29.87% and a return on equity of 22.13%. The business had revenue of $287.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $282.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Nova has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.030-3.180 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Nova announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $200 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Nova Profile

Nova Ltd. develops metrology and process-control solutions used in semiconductor manufacturing. Its systems measure the dimensions and material properties of structures on silicon wafers, helping chipmakers monitor and control production processes as devices become smaller and more complex. The company's offerings include optical and X-ray measurement systems, alongside software that analyzes process data. These tools are used in wafer-fabrication facilities and research and development environments.

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