HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,740 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,034 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nova were worth $2,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP increased its stake in Nova by 438.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 89.7% during the third 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. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Nova by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Nova by 79.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NVMI shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upgraded Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nova presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.83.

Nova Stock Performance

NVMI opened at $196.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $238.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.63. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $158.00 and a 52-week high of $289.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The company had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.50 million. Research analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nova 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.