Brokerages Set Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Price Target at $238.33

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $246.67.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NVMI. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Nova in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NVMI traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $267.97. 208,001 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 206,255. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.99, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.44. Nova has a one year low of $154.54 and a one year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. Nova had a net margin of 28.00% and a return on equity of 21.35%. Equities analysts forecast that Nova will post 5.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Nova during the second quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 70.4% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,018 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,411,000 after buying an additional 2,486 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Nova by 14.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Nova by 31.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Nova by 29.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 166,859 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $34,940,000 after purchasing an additional 38,005 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nova

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.