Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Position Lifted by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 170.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,987 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 13,858 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.08% of Nova worth $4,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 131.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,540 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,821,000 after purchasing an additional 7,678 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 4,652 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,948 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,281,869 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $267,487,000 after purchasing an additional 547,833 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 89.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI stock traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $190.65. The company had a trading volume of 85,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 190,494. Nova Ltd. has a twelve month low of $124.42 and a twelve month high of $247.21. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $192.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on NVMI. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark raised their price objective on Nova from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Nova from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $273.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.80.

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.