Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Sold by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates cut its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 31.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,491 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 9,978 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.07% of Nova worth $5,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVMI. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Nova by 84.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,854 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,236,000 after acquiring an additional 59,164 shares in the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nova in the second quarter worth $79,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nova during the second quarter worth $232,000. OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Nova in the 2nd quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Nova by 235.7% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,641 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,558,000 after buying an additional 4,663 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nova Price Performance

NVMI traded up $0.46 during trading on Thursday, reaching $220.35. 189,272 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 183,159. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $90.59 and a 1 year high of $247.21. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $220.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.47.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.43. Nova had a net margin of 26.26% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The firm had revenue of $156.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $148.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NVMI shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Nova from $223.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Nova from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Nova in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $236.60.

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.