Mariner LLC Boosts Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Mariner LLC increased its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 111.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,852 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 2,554 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Nova were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in Nova by 7.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in Nova by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,370,985 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $270,015,000 after purchasing an additional 97,000 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 11,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Nova by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,047,782 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $205,985,000 after acquiring an additional 14,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nova by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 713,003 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $140,455,000 after purchasing an additional 65,281 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVMI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Benchmark upped their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $264.60.

Nova Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Nova stock opened at $196.65 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $154.00 and a 12 month high of $289.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $204.05 and a 200 day moving average of $207.03.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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