Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Insider Shay Wolfing Sells 3,864 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Nova insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares for approximately $1.4 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing their ownership by 15.29% to 21,409 shares.
• Nova shares fell 1.0% to $359.02, well below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The stock has traded between $266.43 and $615.99 over the past year.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while its board authorized a $200 million share buyback; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $514.44.

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of Nova stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total value of $1,403,713.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,409 shares in the company, valued at $7,777,461.52. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nova Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NVMI traded down $3.79 on Tuesday, reaching $359.02. The stock had a trading volume of 84,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,783. Nova Ltd. has a twelve month low of $266.43 and a twelve month high of $615.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a PE ratio of 44.43, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $390.49 and a 200 day moving average of $457.96.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.10. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%.The business had revenue of $254.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nova announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NVMI shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Nova in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Nova from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $514.44.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Nova by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 145,427 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $48,642,000 after acquiring an additional 23,280 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Nova by 51.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,332 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Nova by 94.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 27,115 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,077,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nova during the 2nd quarter valued at $15,675,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nova by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 394,500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $129,550,000 after buying an additional 48,654 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Nova

Nova Ltd. NASDAQ: NVMI is an Israel-based provider of metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company develops systems that help chip manufacturers measure and control critical process parameters during wafer fabrication, supporting the production of increasingly small and complex semiconductor devices.

Nova's product portfolio includes optical and x-ray metrology systems, dimensional and materials measurement solutions, chemical metrology tools, and integrated metrology systems that can be incorporated into semiconductor production equipment.

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