Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC Makes New $440,000 Investment in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,232 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its holdings in Nova by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $272,517,000 after acquiring an additional 101,470 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in Nova by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,370,985 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $270,015,000 after acquiring an additional 97,000 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in Nova by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,169,625 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $230,358,000 after acquiring an additional 11,915 shares during the last quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. grew its holdings in Nova by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 713,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $140,455,000 after acquiring an additional 65,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 661,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $146,515,000 after purchasing an additional 353,906 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NVMI opened at $206.27 on Tuesday. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $158.00 and a 1 year high of $289.90. The stock has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $240.11 and a 200 day moving average of $211.11.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NVMI shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.83.

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.