Mariner LLC Purchases 2,554 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Mariner LLC increased its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 111.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,852 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,554 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Nova were worth $956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Nova by 253.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 35,327 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $7,360,000 after purchasing an additional 25,345 shares during the last quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Nova during the fourth quarter worth $327,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Nova by 115.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 661,282 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $146,515,000 after acquiring an additional 353,906 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in Nova by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,370,985 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $270,015,000 after acquiring an additional 97,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in shares of Nova by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,169,625 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $230,358,000 after acquiring an additional 11,915 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on NVMI. Benchmark lifted their price target on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup upgraded Nova from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nova has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.60.

Nova Price Performance

NVMI traded up $8.53 during trading on Friday, hitting $204.18. The stock had a trading volume of 20,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 223,758. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $198.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.55. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $154.00 and a one year high of $289.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The business had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nova 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.