Gabriel Waisman Sells 1,500 Shares of Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total transaction of $513,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,314,535.78. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Gabriel Waisman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 2nd, Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of Nova stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total transaction of $1,486,855.80.

Nova Stock Performance

Nova stock opened at $352.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $419.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $465.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.65, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.76. Nova Ltd. has a 52 week low of $239.52 and a 52 week high of $615.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.10. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%.The firm had revenue of $254.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Nova announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Nova in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nova in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Nova by 75.7% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Nova by 2,042.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVMI has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Nova from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Nova from $640.00 to $570.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $514.44.

Nova Company Profile

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.