Stephens Inc. AR Buys Shares of 14,284 Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Stephens Inc. AR bought a new position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,284 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $2,813,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Nova in the second quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Nova by 70.4% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,018 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 2,486 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Nova by 14.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Nova by 31.4% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Nova by 29.5% in 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 buying an additional 38,005 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nova Stock Down 0.4 %

NVMI traded down $1.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $267.97. 208,001 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 206,255. The stock has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.99, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's 50-day moving average is $223.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.65. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $154.54 and a 1-year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. Nova had a net margin of 28.00% and a return on equity of 21.35%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 5.78 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Nova in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nova presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $246.67.

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.