Needham Investment Management LLC Sells 5,750 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Needham Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 169,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 5,750 shares during the quarter. Nova comprises about 2.7% of Needham Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Needham Investment Management LLC owned 0.58% of Nova worth $35,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in shares of Nova by 74.6% during the third quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,281,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $267,487,000 after acquiring an additional 547,833 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Nova by 131.0% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,540 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after purchasing an additional 7,678 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Nova during the third quarter worth approximately $15,669,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Nova by 29.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 166,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,940,000 after buying an additional 38,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Nova by 222.2% during the third quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 4,681 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Price Performance

Shares of NVMI stock traded down $0.34 on Tuesday, reaching $190.16. 27,718 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 190,363. Nova Ltd. has a one year low of $124.42 and a one year high of $247.21. The stock has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of Nova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $273.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Nova from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nova has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.80.

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.