Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) to Buyback $200.00 million in Shares

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 2nd, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVMI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Nova from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Evercore set a $475.00 price objective on Nova in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $514.44.

Nova Stock Up 3.5%

NASDAQ:NVMI traded up $11.96 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $349.60. 498,513 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 465,860. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.76. Nova has a 52 week low of $232.73 and a 52 week high of $615.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $423.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $465.79.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $254.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.33 million. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Nova will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Nova

In other Nova news, Director Yaniv Garty sold 366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $581.20, for a total transaction of $212,719.20. Following the sale, the director owned 2,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,887.20. The trade was a 15.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.52, for a total value of $243,580.08. Following the sale, the director owned 1,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,046,750.52. The trade was a 18.88% decrease in their position. 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 quarter, insiders sold 6,942 shares of company stock valued at $3,419,027. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.