Royce & Associates LP Has $27.85 Million Holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Royce & Associates LP reduced its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 151,070 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 14,640 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.52% of Nova worth $27,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Nova by 187.1% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Nova by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in Nova by 5.0% in the fourth 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. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Nova by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Nova Stock Down 1.1%

Nova stock traded down $2.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $258.62. The stock had a trading volume of 642,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 274,658. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 39.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.66. Nova Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $153.99 and a fifty-two week high of $291.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $242.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.78.

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