Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on the stock from $315.00 to $300.00. The stock had previously closed at $219.13, but opened at $212.84. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Nova shares last traded at $211.29, with a volume of 32,684 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on NVMI. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Nova by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nova by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Nova by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 4,742 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nova Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $240.27 and its 200 day moving average is $211.21.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS 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.