Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires 4,304 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,620 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,304 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.34% of Nova worth $19,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Nova by 187.1% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter valued at $112,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Nova by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC raised its holdings in Nova by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nova Stock Up 8.4%

Nova stock traded up $16.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $217.85. 514,564 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 232,475. Nova Ltd. has a 12-month low of $154.00 and a 12-month high of $289.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $187.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.01. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $210.10 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The firm's revenue was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVMI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nova from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $277.00.

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.