Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Has Average Price Target of $499.44 According to Analysts

Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $499.44.

A number of brokerages recently commented on NVMI. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore set a $475.00 target price on Nova in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Nova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $550.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 8th.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $319.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $367.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $446.36. The stock has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.49, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.79. Nova has a 1-year low of $266.43 and a 1-year high of $615.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $254.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.33 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nova will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Nova announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total value of $513,405.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,314,535.78. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total transaction of $1,403,713.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,409 shares in the company, valued at $7,777,461.52. This trade represents a 15.29% 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. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVMI. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co bought a new stake in shares of Nova during the 3rd quarter valued at about $367,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Nova by 214.3% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 154 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Nova in the second quarter worth about $276,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nova by 4.9% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,383 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Nova by 688.9% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 71 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

About Nova

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Its systems help chipmakers measure and control critical dimensions, film thickness, material properties and other characteristics during the production of integrated circuits.

The company’s product portfolio includes optical and X-ray metrology systems, chemical metrology solutions, and related software and analytics tools. These technologies are used in multiple stages of semiconductor fabrication, including front-end wafer processing and advanced packaging, to support process development, yield improvement and manufacturing control.

Founded in 1993, Nova is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, and serves semiconductor manufacturers and other industry customers through operations and support activities across North America, Europe and Asia.