Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. Cuts Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. decreased its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,264,983 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 26,138 shares during the period. Nova makes up about 1.6% of Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. owned approximately 4.35% of Nova worth $249,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVMI. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Nova by 24.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Nova during the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Nova by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in Nova by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 79.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on NVMI shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.83.

Nova Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NVMI stock opened at $179.78 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $154.00 and a 52-week high of $289.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $219.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share 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.