PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 524 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 79.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Nova were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Nova in the fourth quarter valued at about $611,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nova during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,541,000. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 3,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,517,000 after purchasing an additional 101,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on NVMI shares. Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.83.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI opened at $196.76 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $158.00 and a 52-week high of $289.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $238.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.63. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. Research analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal 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.