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

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $514.4444.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NVMI. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Nova from $640.00 to $570.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Nova from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research raised Nova from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th.

Nova Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI traded down $17.46 during trading on Monday, hitting $359.53. 54,369 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 442,448. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $455.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $470.99. Nova has a 12-month low of $232.73 and a 12-month high of $615.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.50, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.78.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $254.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.33 million. Nova had a net margin of 28.84% and a return on equity of 21.41%. Nova’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nova will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other news, 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 value of $212,719.20. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total transaction of $1,486,855.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 28,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,394,328.20. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,946 shares of company stock valued at $3,686,920. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nova

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its stake in Nova by 286.3% in the 4th quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 508,641 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $167,115,000 after purchasing an additional 376,974 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Nova by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 145,427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,642,000 after purchasing an additional 23,280 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in Nova in the fourth quarter valued at $14,056,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Nova by 94.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 27,115 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,077,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Nova by 51.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,224,000 after buying an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.