Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Has $14.96 Million Stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 31.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 75,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 34,400 shares during the quarter. Nova comprises about 3.1% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Nova were worth $14,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in shares of Nova by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,517,000 after acquiring an additional 101,470 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in Nova by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,370,985 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $270,015,000 after purchasing an additional 97,000 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nova by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,169,625 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $230,358,000 after purchasing an additional 11,915 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nova by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,047,782 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $205,985,000 after purchasing an additional 14,667 shares during the period. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 713,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $140,455,000 after buying an additional 65,281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $201.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $289.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $237.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.64.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The firm had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on NVMI. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.83.

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.