Royce & Associates LP Cuts Position in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Royce & Associates LP lowered its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 9.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,048 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 9,220 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.31% of Nova worth $29,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVMI. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position 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 valued at $605,701,000 after buying an additional 102,250 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in Nova by 3.9% during the second quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,549,154 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $428,980,000 after purchasing an additional 58,600 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in shares of Nova by 6.4% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,428,607 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $456,669,000 after purchasing an additional 86,438 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nova by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,113,762 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $354,172,000 after purchasing an additional 10,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Nova by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 629,894 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $173,350,000 after purchasing an additional 35,870 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NVMI shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Nova in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Nova from $370.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Nova from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Nova from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nova has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $439.00.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of Nova stock opened at $438.86 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $419.59 and a 200 day moving average of $344.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 6.28 and a quick ratio of 5.47. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $153.99 and a 12 month high of $507.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.83.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $222.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.43 million. Nova had a return on equity of 22.90% and a net margin of 29.44%.The company’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Nova has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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.