Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 59.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 1,744 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Nova were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Nova by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nova by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Nova by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its position in Nova by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its position in Nova by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 4,742 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVMI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark dropped their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.00.

Nova Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI traded down $3.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $191.77. The company had a trading volume of 144,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,828. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.41, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66. The company's 50-day moving average price is $190.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.11. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $154.00 and a one year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The company had revenue of $213.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. Nova's revenue was up 50.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate 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.