Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Bought by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 165,710 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.57% of Nova worth $32,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Nova by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nova by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in Nova by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 5,032 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Nova by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,576 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $219.13 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $289.90. The company has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $240.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.27.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 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 company had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.