Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Price Down 4.7% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) shares decreased by 4.7% on Friday, trading at a low of $255.24, with a significant drop in trading volume of 86% compared to its average.
• Several analysts have recently adjusted their ratings on Nova, with Wall Street Zen downgrading it to a "hold" while others maintained "buy" ratings, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $282.50.
• In its latest earnings report, Nova reported $2.20 earnings per share, outperforming expectations, and demonstrated a 40.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $219.99 million.

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) dropped 4.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $255.24 and last traded at $258.14. Approximately 39,056 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 272,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $270.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NVMI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on Nova from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated 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. Two equities 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.50.

Nova Stock Down 5.1%

The company has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.67. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $261.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.82.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.15. Nova had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 29.10%. The business had revenue of $219.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 40.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 3.9% in the second quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,549,154 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $428,980,000 after acquiring an additional 58,600 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in Nova by 13.1% during the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,437,657 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $395,643,000 after buying an additional 166,672 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its stake in Nova by 10.7% during the second quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,342,169 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $369,365,000 after buying an additional 129,684 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nova by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,062,142 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $197,195,000 after purchasing an additional 14,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Nova by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 769,584 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $214,680,000 after purchasing an additional 90,830 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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