Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Lowers Holdings in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lowered its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 26.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,615 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 11,189 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC owned about 0.10% of Nova worth $13,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in Nova by 47.5% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,166,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $940,683,000 after purchasing an additional 697,210 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Nova by 185.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 607,344 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $194,144,000 after purchasing an additional 394,544 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its stake in Nova by 286.3% during the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 508,641 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $167,115,000 after purchasing an additional 376,974 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nova during the fourth quarter worth approximately $109,568,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Nova in the 4th quarter valued at $56,158,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVMI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Nova from $520.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nova currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $556.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nova news, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total value of $749,748.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,421 shares in the company, valued at $3,731,885.20. This represents a 16.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total transaction of $1,486,855.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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. 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 7,798 shares of company stock worth $4,125,266 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nova Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NVMI stock opened at $455.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.47 billion, a PE ratio of 56.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $502.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $476.37. Nova Ltd. has a 52 week low of $232.73 and a 52 week high of $615.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. Nova had a net margin of 29.21% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The firm had revenue of $235.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.18 EPS. The firm’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. Equities research analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nova Company Profile

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.