Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Price Target Lowered at Barclays

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) had its target price cut by Barclays from $600.00 to $500.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NVMI. Citigroup cut shares of Nova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $550.00 to $415.00 in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Nova from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Nova from $570.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.00.

Nova Trading Up 11.7%

Shares of NVMI traded up $32.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $313.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 463,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,614. Nova has a 1-year low of $266.43 and a 1-year high of $615.99. The stock has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $346.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $437.27.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.09. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%. The business had revenue of $287.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $282.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Nova has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.030-3.180 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Nova will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Nova announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $200 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total transaction of $1,403,713.92. Following the sale, the insider owned 21,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,777,461.52. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total value of $513,405.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,314,535.78. This trade represents a 5.22% 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. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nova

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NVMI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Nova in the second quarter valued at about $391,367,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in Nova by 47.5% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,166,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $940,683,000 after buying an additional 697,210 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Nova during the second quarter worth about $308,300,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Nova during the second quarter worth about $82,530,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Nova by 338.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 190,399 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,434,000 after buying an additional 146,959 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Nova News

Here are the key news stories impacting Nova this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 revenue reached a record $287.8 million, up 28.2% year over year, while adjusted EPS of $2.86 topped the roughly $2.77 consensus. Nova reports record third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Nova forecast Q4 revenue of $305 million–$315 million and EPS of $3.03–$3.18, with the EPS range just above analyst expectations. Management also pointed to strong memory and packaging demand and visibility into 2027 growth. Nova Q4 outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, one post-results report said the stock dropped, suggesting strong expectations may have limited the market’s initial response. Nova Q3 results and stock reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays reduced its price target to $500 from $600, and Needham cut its target to $420 from $570. Both firms kept positive ratings—Overweight and Buy, respectively—but the lower targets could weigh on sentiment. Barclays rating

Nova Company Profile

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Its systems help chipmakers measure and control critical dimensions, film thickness, material properties and other characteristics during the production of integrated circuits.

The company’s product portfolio includes optical and X-ray metrology systems, chemical metrology solutions, and related software and analytics tools. These technologies are used in multiple stages of semiconductor fabrication, including front-end wafer processing and advanced packaging, to support process development, yield improvement and manufacturing control.

Founded in 1993, Nova is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, and serves semiconductor manufacturers and other industry customers through operations and support activities across North America, Europe and Asia.