Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Down 10.2%

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 10.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $200.40 and last traded at $200.79. 94,647 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 182,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Nova from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Nova in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Nova from $223.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $236.60.

Nova Trading Down 9.8 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $219.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $200.24. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.47, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.47.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.43. Nova had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The company had revenue of $156.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $148.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 5.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Nova in the second quarter valued at $68,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nova in the 2nd quarter valued at about $79,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Nova by 15.9% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 767 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Nova by 46.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,038 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new position in Nova during the second quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

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.