Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 11,305 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,809 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 11,305 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.27% of Nova worth $14,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new position in Nova in the first quarter valued at about $1,957,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Nova in the first quarter valued at about $239,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Nova by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 22,472 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Nova in the fourth quarter valued at about $237,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Nova by 17.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Nova from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Benchmark lowered their target price on Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Nova in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nova currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.50.

Nova Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ NVMI traded up $0.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $284.16. 143,596 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 242,498. The company has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a PE ratio of 42.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.66. Nova Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $154.00 and a fifty-two week high of $291.99. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $226.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.96.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $213.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.10 million. Nova had a return on equity of 23.98% and a net margin of 28.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Nova

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.