Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 1,744 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 59.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Nova by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,411,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $474,980,000 after purchasing an additional 796,629 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in shares of Nova by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $272,517,000 after purchasing an additional 101,470 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nova by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,370,985 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $270,015,000 after purchasing an additional 97,000 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nova by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,169,625 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $230,358,000 after purchasing an additional 11,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Nova by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,047,782 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $205,985,000 after purchasing an additional 14,667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Nova Trading Down 0.8%

Nova stock traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $190.17. The stock had a trading volume of 188,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,923. The firm's fifty day moving average is $189.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.37. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $154.00 and a 52-week 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.10. Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The business had revenue of $213.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.