Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires 1,681 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Nova Ltd. by 12.7%, acquiring an additional 1,681 shares during the first quarter, now owning a total of 14,889 shares valued at $2,744,000.
• Nova announced a quarterly EPS of $2.20, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.05, with a 40.2% revenue increase year over year.
• Institutional investors now hold 82.99% of Nova's stock, with hedge funds like Wasatch Advisors LP and Polar Capital Holdings Plc significantly increasing their positions in the last quarter.

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,889 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,681 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Nova worth $2,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Nova by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,411,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $474,980,000 after acquiring an additional 796,629 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nova by 3.7% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,212,485 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $223,497,000 after acquiring an additional 42,860 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Nova by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,062,142 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $197,195,000 after acquiring an additional 14,360 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Nova by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 600,868 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $118,341,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its position in shares of Nova by 504.5% during the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 354,302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,780,000 after acquiring an additional 295,691 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nova Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:NVMI traded down $3.60 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $270.83. The company had a trading volume of 154,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 274,363. Nova Ltd. has a 52 week low of $153.99 and a 52 week high of $291.99. The firm has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.67. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $260.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.48.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.15. Nova had a net margin of 29.10% and a return on equity of 24.36%. The business had revenue of $219.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 40.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVMI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Nova from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Nova in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nova presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.50.

Nova Company Profile

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.