Meitav Investment House Ltd. Acquires 65,281 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 713,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,281 shares during the period. Nova makes up about 2.4% of Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Meitav Investment House Ltd. owned approximately 2.45% of Nova worth $140,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Nova by 438.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Nova by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nova by 14.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nova during the third quarter worth about $257,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on NVMI. Benchmark increased their price target on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Nova in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.67.

Nova Price Performance

Nova stock opened at $273.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 47.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.44. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $154.54 and a 12 month high of $289.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $227.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.36.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The business had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.