Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 2,900 Shares of Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management boosted its Nova stake by 26.5%, adding 2,900 shares to hold 13,845 shares worth about $4.62 million, while other large institutions such as UBS, Vanguard and Migdal also increased positions and institutional investors own 82.99% of the stock.
• Financial/market snapshot: Nova slightly beat EPS expectations ($2.14 vs. $2.13) with revenue up 14.3% year-over-year, trades near $494 with a $15.7B market cap and a P/E of 61.7, and carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a $442.25 target.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,845 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings in Nova were worth $4,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Nova by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 110,249 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $36,205,000 after buying an additional 33,276 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Nova in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,200,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nova by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,128,957 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $377,402,000 after buying an additional 15,195 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in Nova in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,064,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in Nova by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,493,657 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $490,502,000 after buying an additional 98,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Nova Price Performance

Nova stock opened at $494.49 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $176.52 and a 52-week high of $550.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $467.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $401.70. The firm has a market cap of $15.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.73, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.78.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NVMI shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Nova from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Nova from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nova currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $442.25.

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.

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