Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Acquired by Wasatch Advisors LP

Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 49.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,411,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 796,629 shares during the period. Nova comprises about 2.4% of Wasatch Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 8.30% of Nova worth $474,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Nova by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Nova during the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Nova by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Nova by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Nova by 79.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI stock traded down $5.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $170.22. 37,800 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 226,119. Nova Ltd. has a twelve month low of $154.00 and a twelve month high of $289.90. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $212.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.81. The firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The business had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. Analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NVMI shares. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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 raised shares of Nova from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nova has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.60.

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.