Chicago Capital LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Chicago Capital LLC reduced its position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 49.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,826 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,775 shares during the quarter. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Nova were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NVMI. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Nova by 185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 607,344 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $194,144,000 after purchasing an additional 394,544 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in Nova in the third quarter valued at $79,915,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Nova in the third quarter valued at $79,398,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 2,672.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 175,843 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $56,210,000 after buying an additional 169,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 69.2% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 359,221 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $98,857,000 after buying an additional 146,932 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Nova from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Nova from $370.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Nova in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nova presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $442.25.

Nova Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $528.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.47, a current ratio of 6.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.80. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $168.18 and a 52-week high of $528.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $455.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $388.60.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $222.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.43 million. Nova had a return on equity of 22.90% and a net margin of 29.44%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current year.

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.