TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,730 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,210 shares during the quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Nova were worth $5,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Nova by 438.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Nova by 31.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nova during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI opened at $273.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s fifty day moving average is $227.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.36. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $154.54 and a 1 year high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. Sell-side analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NVMI. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Nova in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nova has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.67.

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.