Nova Ltd. $NVMI Shares Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 145,427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,280 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Nova were worth $48,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Nova by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,200,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $605,701,000 after acquiring an additional 102,250 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Nova by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,493,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $490,502,000 after acquiring an additional 98,000 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Nova by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,468,863 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $482,360,000 after acquiring an additional 40,256 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nova by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,128,957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $377,402,000 after acquiring an additional 15,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Nova by 185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 607,344 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $194,144,000 after purchasing an additional 394,544 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other Nova news, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 426 shares of Nova stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.49, for a total value of $219,172.74. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,253,812.13. This trade represents a 14.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,504 shares of Nova stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.48, for a total value of $781,297.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,668 shares in the company, valued at $3,463,892.64. This trade represents a 18.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,411 shares of company stock worth $1,243,018. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Nova from $520.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Nova from $500.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $518.22.

Nova Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NVMI stock opened at $502.33 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $494.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.20. Nova Ltd. has a twelve month low of $205.37 and a twelve month high of $565.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.78.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.13. Nova had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 29.21%.The company had revenue of $235.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.02 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.