Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,707 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,037 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.26% of Nova worth $24,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Nova by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,200,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $605,701,000 after buying an additional 102,250 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in shares of Nova by 3.9% during the second quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,549,154 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $428,980,000 after acquiring an additional 58,600 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nova by 13.1% during the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,437,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $395,643,000 after acquiring an additional 166,672 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nova by 6.4% during the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,428,607 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $456,669,000 after acquiring an additional 86,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 6.0% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 629,894 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $173,350,000 after purchasing an additional 35,870 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NVMI. Bank of America raised their price objective on Nova from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Nova from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Nova in a research note on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $335.00 price objective for the company. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Nova from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.57.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of Nova stock opened at $459.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of 60.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $381.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $325.28. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $153.99 and a one year high of $507.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 4.00 and a current ratio of 4.58.

About Nova

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies advanced metrology and process control systems for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company’s core product line includes spectroscopic ellipsometry and scatterometry tools designed to measure film thickness, critical dimensions, overlay alignment and other key parameters that drive yield and performance in integrated circuit fabrication.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, Nova Measuring Instruments has established itself as a critical partner to leading semiconductor foundries and device manufacturers.