Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Buys 47,295 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 49.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,073 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,295 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.50% of Nova worth $19,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nova by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 71,770 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,860,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Nova by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 52,423 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $7,202,000 after buying an additional 9,058 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Treasury Department increased its position in Nova by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 82,443 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $11,327,000 after buying an additional 12,120 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in Nova by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,070,485 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $147,074,000 after buying an additional 33,800 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Nova by 2.1% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,312,919 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $147,625,000 after acquiring an additional 27,050 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nova Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NVMI traded up $4.65 on Thursday, hitting $235.17. The stock had a trading volume of 134,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 171,422. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $90.59 and a 1 year high of $242.93. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $203.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.82. The stock has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.42.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The semiconductor company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.29. Nova had a net margin of 26.26% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $141.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $136.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NVMI shares. Benchmark increased their target price on Nova from $187.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Nova in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Nova in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $221.25.

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.