Cantor Fitzgerald Cuts Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Price Target to $300.00

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) had its price target lowered by Cantor Fitzgerald from $315.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.83.

Nova Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NVMI stock opened at $219.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. Nova has a 12-month low of $158.00 and a 12-month high of $289.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $240.27 and a 200-day moving average of $211.21.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 146,937 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,613,000 after buying an additional 37,089 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Nova during the third quarter valued at approximately $15,669,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Nova by 89.7% during 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 last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in Nova by 74.6% in the third quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,281,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $267,487,000 after purchasing an additional 547,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Nova by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

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.