Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 358.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,465 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 9,744 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Nova were worth $2,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nova by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Nova in the 4th quarter valued at $112,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Nova by 79.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nova has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.60.

Nova Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $202.18 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.84. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $154.00 and a 52-week high of $289.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The firm had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Nova Company Profile

Nova Ltd. designs, develops, produces, and sells process control systems used in the manufacture of semiconductors in Israel, Taiwan, the United States, China, Korea, and internationally. Its product portfolio includes a set of metrology platforms for dimensional, films, and materials and chemical metrology measurements for process control for various semiconductor manufacturing process steps, including lithography, etch, chemical mechanical planarization, deposition, electrochemical plating, and advanced packaging.