Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $250.83.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

Nova Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $191.73 on Thursday. Nova has a 52 week low of $154.00 and a 52 week high of $289.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $221.78 and its 200-day moving average is $208.98. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nova will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in Nova by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,411,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $474,980,000 after purchasing an additional 796,629 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nova by 115.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 661,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $146,515,000 after purchasing an additional 353,906 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its stake in shares of Nova by 504.5% in the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 354,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,780,000 after purchasing an additional 295,691 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Nova by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 600,868 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $118,341,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its stake in shares of Nova by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $272,517,000 after purchasing an additional 101,470 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Nova

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.