Wellington Management Group LLP Takes Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in Nova by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,411,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $474,980,000 after acquiring an additional 796,629 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its stake in Nova by 504.5% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 354,302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,780,000 after purchasing an additional 295,691 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Nova by 33.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in shares of Nova by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $272,517,000 after purchasing an additional 101,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 713,003 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $140,455,000 after acquiring an additional 65,281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NVMI shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $277.00.

Nova Trading Down 1.8%

NVMI stock traded down $4.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $228.58. 261,952 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 236,518. The company has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a PE ratio of 39.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.61. Nova Ltd. has a twelve month low of $154.00 and a twelve month high of $289.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.35.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.10 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 50.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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.