Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Price Target Lowered to $280.00 at Benchmark

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) had its target price lowered by Benchmark from $295.00 to $280.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on NVMI. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.60.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $183.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66. Nova has a 52-week low of $154.00 and a 52-week high of $289.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $192.81 and a 200 day moving average of $206.80.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $213.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.10 million. Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. Nova’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NVMI. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Nova during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Nova by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Nova by 187.1% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Nova during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.