Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) CEO Gabriel Waisman Sells 1,500 Shares

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total transaction of $513,405.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,214 shares in the company, valued at $9,314,535.78. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Gabriel Waisman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 2nd, Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of Nova stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total transaction of $1,486,855.80.

Nova Trading Up 3.5%

NVMI traded up $11.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $349.60. 498,498 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 445,221. Nova Ltd. has a 12-month low of $232.73 and a 12-month high of $615.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $426.58 and a 200 day moving average of $466.45. The firm has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Nova from $640.00 to $570.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nova from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $514.44.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Nova by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Nova by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,124 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Nova by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Nova by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,997 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Nova by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 10,885 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Nova

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.