Insider Selling: Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) CEO Sells $1,486,855.80 in Stock

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total transaction of $1,486,855.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 28,714 shares in the company, valued at $14,394,328.20. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nova Price Performance

Nova stock opened at $451.99 on Thursday. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $232.73 and a 1-year high of $615.99. The stock has a market cap of $14.36 billion, a PE ratio of 56.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $515.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $466.75.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $235.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.02 million. Nova had a net margin of 29.21% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.18 EPS. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NVMI. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Nova from $500.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $551.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Nova during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Nova in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 2,042.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 51.6% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 376 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

About Nova

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies advanced metrology and process control systems for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company’s core product line includes spectroscopic ellipsometry and scatterometry tools designed to measure film thickness, critical dimensions, overlay alignment and other key parameters that drive yield and performance in integrated circuit fabrication.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, Nova Measuring Instruments has established itself as a critical partner to leading semiconductor foundries and device manufacturers.