SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Buys New Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 568 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower View Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,870,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 111.9% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,296 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 8,076 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 1,016.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 17,960 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,537,000 after purchasing an additional 16,351 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 713,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $140,455,000 after purchasing an additional 65,281 shares during the period. Finally, Peregrine Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,140,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nova Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of NVMI opened at $226.02 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $289.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $238.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.52. The firm has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The business had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark raised their target price on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Nova in a report on Monday, January 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.