Wasatch Advisors LP Purchases 796,629 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) by 49.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,411,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 796,629 shares during the quarter. Nova comprises 2.4% of Wasatch Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 8.30% of Nova worth $474,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Nova by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Nova during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Nova by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 79.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nova Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:NVMI traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $175.62. 296,290 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 226,860. Nova Ltd. has a 12-month low of $154.00 and a 12-month high of $289.90. The firm's fifty day moving average is $212.08 and its 200-day moving average is $207.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The company had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.50 million. On average, research analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nova has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.60.

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.