Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $232.66, but opened at $241.60. Nova shares last traded at $241.42, with a volume of 30,505 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVMI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Nova in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on Nova from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.33.

Nova Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $197.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.28. The firm has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.69, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.42.

Institutional Trading of Nova

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nova by 438.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Nova by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Nova during the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Nova by 31.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Nova during the second quarter worth about $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

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.