Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on the stock from $315.00 to $300.00. The stock had previously closed at $219.13, but opened at $212.84. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Nova shares last traded at $211.29, with a volume of 32,684 shares traded.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised Nova from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $250.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP boosted 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 during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 boosted 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 buying an additional 78 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Nova during the fourth quarter worth $112,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Nova by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Nova Stock Down 2.1 %

The company's 50 day moving average price is $238.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.75. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The firm had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.50 million. On average, analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.