Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Down 4.6% - Time to Sell?

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) fell 4.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $271.37 and last traded at $272.87. 328,610 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 35% from the average session volume of 243,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $285.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NVMI. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Nova in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Benchmark reduced their target price on Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Nova from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nova presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.50.

Nova Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of 42.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.03.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in Nova in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nova by 182.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 212 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Nova by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 376 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Nova by 187.1% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nova by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 306 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.