Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Purchased by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 803,025 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,668 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 2.80% of Nova worth $142,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Nova by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 959,065 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $107,837,000 after acquiring an additional 13,988 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Nova during the fourth quarter valued at about $318,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Nova by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 39,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,421,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Bank Hapoalim BM boosted its position in shares of Nova by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM now owns 2,166 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter worth about $343,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ NVMI traded down $2.88 on Friday, hitting $203.58. 167,868 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 178,717. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $223.12 and a 200 day moving average of $184.49. Nova Ltd. has a twelve month low of $90.59 and a twelve month high of $247.21. The company has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.47.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The semiconductor company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.29. Nova had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 26.26%. The firm had revenue of $141.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Nova’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVMI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Benchmark upped their target price on Nova from $187.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on Nova from $223.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Nova in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.60.

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.