Raiffeisen Bank International AG Buys Shares of 50,000 Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 50,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $9,859,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG owned approximately 0.17% of Nova at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased 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 purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Nova by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nova by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NVMI shares. Benchmark decreased their price target on Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.00.

Nova Stock Down 2.0%

NVMI traded down $3.85 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $185.00. 35,480 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 229,209. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $154.00 and a one year high of $289.90. The stock's fifty day moving average is $189.41 and its 200 day moving average is $207.24. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.10. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The firm had revenue of $213.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 50.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nova 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.