Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Sells 10,050 Shares of Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 63,630 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 10,050 shares during the period. Nova comprises about 5.8% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Nova were worth $20,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVMI. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 660.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,966,000 after acquiring an additional 9,265 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Nova by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 376 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Nova during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,445,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Nova by 62.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Nova during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,886,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 426 shares of Nova stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.49, for a total value of $219,172.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,253,812.13. The trade was a 14.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Yaniv Garty sold 426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.49, for a total transaction of $219,172.74. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,038 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,530.62. The trade was a 17.29% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 2,411 shares of company stock worth $1,243,018 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NVMI shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $494.00 target price on shares of Nova in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Nova from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.22.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI stock opened at $575.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.73, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $519.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $449.35. Nova Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $224.00 and a fifty-two week high of $615.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $235.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.02 million. Nova had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 29.21%.The company’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.18 earnings per share. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 9.44 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.