Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $514.4444.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore set a $475.00 price objective on Nova in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Nova in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

Insider Activity at Nova

In other news, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,731,885.20. The trade was a 16.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $14,394,328.20. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 5,442 shares of company stock valued at $2,905,622 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nova during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Nova during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nova during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position 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 period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Nova by 2,042.9% in 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. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nova Price Performance

Shares of NVMI stock opened at $349.06 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $435.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.78. Nova has a 12 month low of $232.73 and a 12 month 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.10. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%.The company had revenue of $254.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.33 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nova will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

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.