Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $452.73, but opened at $488.21. Nova shares last traded at $477.1150, with a volume of 39,901 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVMI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Nova from $520.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $551.25.

Nova Stock Up 5.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $513.22 and a 200-day moving average of $469.66. The stock has a market cap of $15.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.32, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.74.

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

Insider Transactions at Nova

In other Nova news, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total value of $1,486,855.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 28,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,394,328.20. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.52, for a total transaction of $243,580.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,046,750.52. This represents a 18.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,798 shares of company stock worth $4,125,266. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 47.5% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,166,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $940,683,000 after buying an additional 697,210 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Nova by 185.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 607,344 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $194,144,000 after purchasing an additional 394,544 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its position in shares of Nova by 286.3% in the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 508,641 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $167,115,000 after purchasing an additional 376,974 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $109,568,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Nova in the third quarter worth $79,915,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nova Company Profile

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.