Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Nova were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Nova by 438.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nova by 89.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Nova by 31.4% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Nova in the third quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Finally, SkyOak Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Nova in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $327,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on NVMI shares. Benchmark raised their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Nova in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upgraded Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.67.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $273.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 47.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.36. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $154.54 and a 1-year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The company had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.50 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.