Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Benchmark Analyst Says

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Benchmark from $245.00 to $295.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.09% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Nova in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.67.

Nova Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NVMI opened at $267.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.99, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $223.02 and a 200-day moving average of $207.65. Nova has a 52 week low of $154.54 and a 52 week high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Nova had a net margin of 28.00% and a return on equity of 21.35%. The company had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nova will post 5.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Nova

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Nova by 131.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,540 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,821,000 after buying an additional 7,678 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position 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 worth $267,487,000 after purchasing an additional 547,833 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Nova by 121.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 145,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,230,000 after purchasing an additional 79,700 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Nova during the third quarter worth $15,669,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Nova during the third quarter worth $967,000. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Company Profile

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.