Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,378 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Nova were worth $1,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Nova by 231.2% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 31,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,514,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nova by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 987,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $175,087,000 after acquiring an additional 14,115 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Nova in the first quarter worth $2,589,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Nova by 12.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 128,423 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,780,000 after acquiring an additional 14,508 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Nova during the 1st quarter worth $38,661,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVMI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Nova in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Nova from $223.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Nova from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.60.

Nova Stock Performance

NVMI stock opened at $197.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $218.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.29. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.38, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.46. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $90.59 and a 1 year high of $247.21.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $156.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.12 million. Nova had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 27.38%. The business’s revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.