LPL Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,323 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 608 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Nova were worth $2,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Nova by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Nova in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nova by 79.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Nova by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyOak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Nova in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ NVMI opened at $186.78 on Wednesday. Nova Ltd. has a 12-month low of $154.00 and a 12-month high of $289.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.31. The company has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVMI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upgraded Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.