Point72 Asset Management L.P. Sells 13,395 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. lessened its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 55.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,889 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 13,395 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Nova were worth $2,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NVMI. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Nova by 352.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 2,819 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in Nova by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,169,625 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $230,358,000 after acquiring an additional 11,915 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Nova by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Nova during the 4th quarter valued at $2,954,000. Finally, SkyOak Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nova in the 4th quarter worth $327,000. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI opened at $188.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $189.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.24. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $154.00 and a one year high of $289.90. The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.10. Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The company had revenue of $213.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NVMI. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.00.

Nova Company Profile

Nova Ltd. designs, develops, produces, and sells process control systems used in the manufacture of semiconductors in Israel, Taiwan, the United States, China, Korea, and internationally. Its product portfolio includes a set of metrology platforms for dimensional, films, and materials and chemical metrology measurements for process control for various semiconductor manufacturing process steps, including lithography, etch, chemical mechanical planarization, deposition, electrochemical plating, and advanced packaging.