Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Nova from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Nova in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued 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 $238.33.

Nova Price Performance

NVMI stock opened at $269.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $219.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.44. Nova has a 1 year low of $154.54 and a 1 year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a net margin of 28.00% and a return on equity of 21.35%. On average, analysts expect that Nova will post 5.78 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Nova

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVMI. Mirabella Financial Services LLP increased its position in Nova by 168.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 12,499 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,462,000 after buying an additional 7,847 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 600,868 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $118,341,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 22,472 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Nova by 358.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 12,465 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 9,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in Nova by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 8,518 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,680,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.