Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $240.00 price objective on the semiconductor company's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Nova in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an outperform rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Benchmark increased their target price on Nova from $187.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nova presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $221.25.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NVMI remained flat at $193.50 during trading hours on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 118,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 168,240. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $176.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.08. Nova has a twelve month low of $90.59 and a twelve month high of $198.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The semiconductor company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.29. Nova had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 26.26%. The firm had revenue of $141.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $136.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Nova will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nova by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 71,770 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,860,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Nova by 8.9% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 43,365 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,876,000 after purchasing an additional 3,539 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in shares of Nova by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,070,485 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $147,074,000 after purchasing an additional 33,800 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Nova by 2.1% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,312,919 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $147,625,000 after purchasing an additional 27,050 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 33.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 276,478 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $31,087,000 after buying an additional 69,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

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.