ARK Investment Management LLC Sells 2,702 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

ARK Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,771 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,702 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nova were worth $2,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nova in the 2nd quarter worth $79,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nova by 46.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,038 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. OLD National Bancorp IN purchased a new stake in shares of Nova in the 2nd quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in shares of Nova during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nova Stock Up 2.4 %

NVMI stock traded up $5.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $223.95. The company had a trading volume of 191,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,157. The company has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $221.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.78. Nova Ltd. has a 12-month low of $90.59 and a 12-month high of $247.21.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $156.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.12 million. Nova had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 26.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NVMI. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Nova in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, May 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Nova from $223.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Benchmark increased their price objective on Nova from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.60.

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.