Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Purchased by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,405 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 37,305 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.63% of Nova worth $35,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Nova by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Nova by 187.1% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Nova during the fourth quarter worth $112,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Nova by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC increased its position in shares of Nova by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on NVMI. Benchmark dropped their target price on Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Nova from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.00.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI stock traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $183.00. 122,707 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 229,928. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $187.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66. Nova Ltd. has a 12-month low of $154.00 and a 12-month high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $210.10 million. Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect 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.