Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Down 2.8% – Should You Sell?

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)’s stock price fell 2.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $168.03 and last traded at $169.68. 100,781 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 190,145 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup downgraded Nova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $273.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on Nova from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.80.

Nova Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $192.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,281,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $267,487,000 after purchasing an additional 547,833 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 6.5% during the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,273,985 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $265,422,000 after buying an additional 78,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 987,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $175,087,000 after buying an additional 14,115 shares in 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 valued at $146,515,000 after acquiring an additional 353,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 647,722 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $135,513,000 after acquiring an additional 90,883 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.