Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Grows Stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,974 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Nova were worth $7,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Nova by 115.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 661,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $146,515,000 after buying an additional 353,906 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased 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. increased 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. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Nova in the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,659,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Nova by 121.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 145,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,230,000 after purchasing an additional 79,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVMI has been the topic of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark increased their target price on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.83.

Nova Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $201.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $158.00 and a one year high of $289.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $237.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.71.

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

Nova 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.