Quantbot Technologies LP Has $1.64 Million Stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Quantbot Technologies LP reduced its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 38.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 5,211 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Nova were worth $1,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $146,515,000 after purchasing an additional 353,906 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its holdings in Nova by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,517,000 after buying an additional 101,470 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in Nova by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,370,985 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $270,015,000 after buying an additional 97,000 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Nova in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $19,659,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nova by 121.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 145,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,230,000 after buying an additional 79,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVMI. Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.83.

Nova Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $203.74 on Tuesday. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $158.00 and a 1-year high of $289.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $238.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.68.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. On average, analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Nova Profile

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.