EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Takes $3.77 Million Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 19,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,765,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in Nova by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $272,517,000 after buying an additional 101,470 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in shares of Nova by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,370,985 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $270,015,000 after acquiring an additional 97,000 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its position in shares of Nova by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,169,625 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $230,358,000 after acquiring an additional 11,915 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Nova by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,047,782 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $205,985,000 after purchasing an additional 14,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.83.

Nova Stock Up 3.5 %

Nova stock opened at $203.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. Nova Ltd. has a 52 week low of $158.00 and a 52 week high of $289.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.68.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. On average, research analysts expect 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.