Man Group plc Purchases New Shares in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Man Group plc bought a new position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,141 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,704,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Nova during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Nova during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nova in the third quarter worth about $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Nova by 75.7% in 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. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 2,042.9% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Price Performance

NVMI opened at $349.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $435.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $468.19. Nova Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $232.73 and a fifty-two week high of $615.99. The company has a market cap of $11.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.78.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of Nova stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.52, for a total transaction of $243,580.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,046,750.52. The trade was a 18.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Yaniv Garty sold 366 shares of Nova stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total value of $212,719.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,887.20. This trade represents a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,442 shares of company stock worth $2,905,622. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVMI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $475.00 target price on Nova in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nova from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $514.44.

Nova 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.