Y.D. More Investments Ltd Raises Holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Key Points

• Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in Nova Ltd. by 0.5% in Q1, holding 297,921 shares worth approximately $54.5 million, making it the fifth largest position in their portfolio.
• Institutional investors collectively own 82.99% of Nova's stock, with significant increases in holdings noted from firms like Deutsche Bank AG and Vanguard Group.
• Nova Ltd. reported a 50.5% year-over-year revenue increase for the last quarter, achieving earnings of $2.18 per share, exceeding analyst estimates.

Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,921 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Nova comprises 4.7% of Y.D. More Investments Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Y.D. More Investments Ltd owned 1.02% of Nova worth $54,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Nova by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 10,323 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter valued at $237,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Nova by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nova by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,725 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,870,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nova by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,543 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Nova Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of Nova stock traded up $7.39 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $277.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 96,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,681. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.71. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $153.99 and a 1-year high of $291.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $219.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.95 million. Nova had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 29.10%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 40.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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.