Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Receives $282.50 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Key Points

• Nova Ltd. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from five brokerage firms, with one hold and four buy recommendations.
• The average 12-month price target for Nova is $282.50, with recent adjustments from firms including Citigroup and Cantor Fitzgerald.
• NOVA's recent earnings report indicated a 50.5% year-over-year revenue increase, reporting earnings per share of $2.18, exceeding analysts' estimates.

Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $282.50.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 price target (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Nova in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Nova from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th.

Institutional Trading of Nova

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nova during the fourth quarter valued at $11,358,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Nova during the fourth quarter valued at $237,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Nova by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,120,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Nova by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,725 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,870,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Nova Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NVMI traded up $7.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $270.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 184,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,732. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.78, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $257.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $227.09. Nova has a 12-month low of $153.99 and a 12-month high of $291.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.15. Nova had a return on equity of 25.38% and a net margin of 29.10%. The business had revenue of $219.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 40.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Nova will post 7.52 EPS for the current year.

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.