33,210 Shares in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 33,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,541,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVMI. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Nova by 438.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nova by 89.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Nova by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Nova in the 4th quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nova by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $196.76 on Monday. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $289.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $238.47 and a 200-day moving average of $210.65. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVMI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.83.

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.