Benchmark Issues Positive Forecast for Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Price

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) had its price target raised by Benchmark from $240.00 to $245.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday. Citigroup cut Nova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.80.

Nova Trading Down 4.2 %

Nova stock traded down $8.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $197.68. 336,274 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 227,274. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.84. Nova has a 12-month low of $102.23 and a 12-month high of $247.21. The firm has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a PE ratio of 41.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.47.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.43. Nova had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 27.38%. The company had revenue of $156.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.12 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Nova’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nova will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nova by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Nova during the 2nd quarter worth about $68,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nova during the 2nd quarter worth about $79,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Nova by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Nova by 46.2% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,038 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

About Nova

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.