BNP Paribas Financial Markets Raises Stock Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 170.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,858 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.08% of Nova worth $4,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,281,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $267,487,000 after purchasing an additional 547,833 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 278,786 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake 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. increased its position in Nova by 28.1% during the second quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 556,839 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $130,258,000 after acquiring an additional 122,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nova by 7.2% in the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,195,985 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $280,494,000 after acquiring an additional 80,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NVMI opened at $189.91 on Wednesday. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $124.42 and a 52-week high of $247.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on NVMI shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark raised their price target on Nova from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Nova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nova presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.80.

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.