Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Short Interest Update

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,530,000 shares, a growth of 28.6% from the February 28th total of 1,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 259,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days. Approximately 5.3% of the company's stock are short sold.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of Nova stock traded down $10.16 on Friday, reaching $162.03. 339,519 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 219,456. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63. Nova has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $289.90. The company's 50-day moving average is $229.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.91.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 438.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Nova by 89.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Nova by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter valued at $112,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 5.2% during the 4th 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. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NVMI shares. Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $250.83.

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.