Nova Ltd. $NVMI is Wasatch Advisors LP’s 5th Largest Position

Wasatch Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 36.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 852,641 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 485,482 shares during the quarter. Nova accounts for 2.5% of Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Nova were worth $370,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in Nova by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,493,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $490,502,000 after purchasing an additional 98,000 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,468,863 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $482,360,000 after purchasing an additional 40,256 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,128,957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $377,402,000 after purchasing an additional 15,195 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 634,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $208,293,000 after purchasing an additional 26,940 shares during the period. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVMI. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $494.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Nova from $520.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Nova from $500.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nova news, Director Yaniv Garty sold 426 shares of the 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 directly owned 2,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,530.62. This trade represents a 17.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.52, for a total transaction of $243,580.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,046,750.52. This trade represents a 18.88% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,887 shares of company stock worth $2,661,785. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Nova Price Performance

Nova stock opened at $488.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a PE ratio of 60.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.75. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $232.73 and a 12 month high of $615.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $522.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $456.78.

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