Bamco Inc. NY Makes New Investment in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 60,244 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,709,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Nova by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,200,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $605,701,000 after buying an additional 102,250 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in Nova by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,166,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $940,683,000 after acquiring an additional 697,210 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nova by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,128,957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $377,402,000 after acquiring an additional 15,195 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Nova during the 2nd quarter valued at about $391,367,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Nova by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 634,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $208,293,000 after acquiring an additional 26,940 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI opened at $366.35 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.34, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $443.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $469.65. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $232.73 and a 1 year high of $615.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $254.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.33 million. Nova had a net margin of 28.84% and a return on equity of 21.41%. Nova’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on NVMI shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Nova from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Nova from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nova has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $514.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nova news, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,290 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total value of $749,748.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,421 shares in the company, valued at $3,731,885.20. The trade was a 16.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Yaniv Garty sold 366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total transaction of $212,719.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,887.20. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 5,442 shares of company stock valued at $2,905,622 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% 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.