Korea Investment CORP Takes Position in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,375,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Nova during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nova in the third quarter worth $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Nova by 75.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Nova by 2,042.9% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Nova

In other Nova news, Director Yaniv Garty sold 366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total value of $212,719.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,887.20. This trade represents a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.52, for a total value of $243,580.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,046,750.52. This trade represents a 18.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 5,442 shares of company stock worth $2,905,622 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NVMI. Barclays upped their price target on Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Nova from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Nova from $640.00 to $570.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Nova from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $514.44.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $362.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $451.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $470.41. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $232.73 and a one year high of $615.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $254.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.33 million. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%.The company’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Nova Company Profile

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies advanced metrology and process control systems for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company’s core product line includes spectroscopic ellipsometry and scatterometry tools designed to measure film thickness, critical dimensions, overlay alignment and other key parameters that drive yield and performance in integrated circuit fabrication.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, Nova Measuring Instruments has established itself as a critical partner to leading semiconductor foundries and device manufacturers.