abrdn plc Reduces Holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

abrdn plc reduced its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 172,770 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 77,750 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Nova were worth $36,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 2,733.2% during the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 288,986 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $67,510,000 after purchasing an additional 278,786 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Nova during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,661,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Nova by 45.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 645,203 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $151,319,000 after buying an additional 200,816 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its stake in Nova by 28.1% in the second quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 556,839 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $130,258,000 after buying an additional 122,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nova in the first quarter valued at approximately $15,195,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NVMI. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Nova from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup lowered shares of Nova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.80.

Nova Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NVMI opened at $197.58 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $203.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.12. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $92.68 and a 1-year high of $247.21. The company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a PE ratio of 41.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.46.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.43. Nova had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The company had revenue of $156.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nova 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.