Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Trading 7.6% Higher - Should You Buy?

Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) traded up 7.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $196.18 and last traded at $197.00. 78,911 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 229,402 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nova presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $277.00.

Nova Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $187.72 and a 200-day moving average of $207.12.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 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 analyst estimates of $210.10 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. Nova's revenue for the quarter was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVMI. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Nova by 352.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Nova by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Nova during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,954,000. SkyOak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Nova during the 4th quarter worth approximately $327,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in Nova by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 296,307 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $58,423,000 after acquiring an additional 67,734 shares in 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.

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