Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Position Decreased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 10.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,207 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 13,634 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.41% of Nova worth $27,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 71,770 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,860,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370 shares during the last quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel purchased a new stake in shares of Nova in the 4th quarter valued at $378,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nova in the 4th quarter valued at $9,409,000. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 9,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Nova in the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Nova Trading Up 1.5 %

NVMI traded up $3.20 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $223.55. 77,200 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 182,595. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $200.01. The company has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.51, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.47. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $90.59 and a 52-week high of $247.21.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $156.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.12 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 20.76%. Nova's quarterly revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current 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.