Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on NVMI. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup cut their target price on Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America cut their target price on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.00.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ NVMI traded up $17.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $200.09. 181,454 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 229,781. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.12. Nova has a 1 year low of $154.00 and a 1 year high of $289.90. The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.10. The firm 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 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 50.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Nova

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Nova in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Nova by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Nova by 187.1% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nova in the 1st quarter worth approximately $92,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.