Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Trading Down 3.8%

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) shares traded down 3.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $169.22 and last traded at $169.22. 38,383 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 153,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVMI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Nova in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Nova from $150.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Nova Trading Down 6.6 %

The company has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $172.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.56.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The semiconductor company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.14. Nova had a net margin of 26.32% and a return on equity of 20.55%. The company had revenue of $134.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.00 million. Analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new position in Nova during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Nova during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Nova by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 672 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in Nova during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Nova by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Company 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.