Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 394,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,654 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 1.34% of Nova worth $129,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NVMI. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Nova by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 78,199 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,680,000 after purchasing an additional 34,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Nova during the 4th quarter worth approximately $109,568,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Nova by 13,750.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,108 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Nova during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,549,000. Finally, Connecticut Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter worth $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Price Performance

NVMI stock opened at $507.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.75. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $217.50 and a 12 month high of $565.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $498.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $433.82.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $235.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.02 million. Nova had a net margin of 29.21% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.18 earnings per share. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on NVMI. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Nova from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $518.22.

Insider Transactions at Nova

In other news, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.48, for a total value of $781,297.92. Following the sale, the director owned 6,668 shares in the company, valued at $3,463,892.64. This represents a 18.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Yaniv Garty sold 426 shares of Nova stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.49, for a total value of $219,172.74. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,530.62. This represents a 17.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 2,411 shares of company stock worth $1,243,018 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nova 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.