Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

NVMI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore set a $475.00 price objective on Nova in a report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Nova from $640.00 to $570.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nova presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.44.

Nova Stock Performance

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $316.33 on Friday. Nova has a 52-week low of $266.43 and a 52-week high of $615.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $360.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $442.13. The company has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.79.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Nova will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nova declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $200 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total transaction of $1,403,713.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,777,461.52. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total transaction of $513,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,314,535.78. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 47.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 697,210 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nova in the second quarter valued at $391,367,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Nova in the second quarter valued at $308,300,000. Meitav Investment House Ltd. grew its position in shares of Nova by 3.7% in the first quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 572,189 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $247,326,000 after purchasing an additional 20,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in shares of Nova by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 377,579 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $161,888,000 after purchasing an additional 50,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Company Profile

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Its systems help chipmakers measure and control critical dimensions, film thickness, material properties and other characteristics during the production of integrated circuits.

The company’s product portfolio includes optical and X-ray metrology systems, chemical metrology solutions, and related software and analytics tools. These technologies are used in multiple stages of semiconductor fabrication, including front-end wafer processing and advanced packaging, to support process development, yield improvement and manufacturing control.

Founded in 1993, Nova is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, and serves semiconductor manufacturers and other industry customers through operations and support activities across North America, Europe and Asia.