Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Position Lowered by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,095 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Nova were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Nova by 89.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 438.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 4,030 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Nova by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,753 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nova Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of NVMI stock opened at $239.15 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $289.90. The company has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $234.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.62.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NVMI. Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Nova in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.67.

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.