Nova's (NVMI) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reissued by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $300.00 price objective on the semiconductor company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $250.00. Cantor Fitzgerald's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.06% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on NVMI. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Nova from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nova presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.50.

Nova Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:NVMI traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $267.72. The stock had a trading volume of 143,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 236,952. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $206.79 and a 200 day moving average of $213.36. The company has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.61. Nova has a one year low of $154.00 and a one year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.10 million. Nova had a return on equity of 23.98% and a net margin of 28.46%. The business's revenue was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nova will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Nova

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVMI. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in Nova during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 376 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Nova by 187.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nova in the 1st quarter worth $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

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.