Eitan Oppenhaim Sells 1,504 Shares of Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,463,892.64. This trade represents a 18.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nova Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Nova stock opened at $505.97 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $493.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $423.65. Nova Ltd. has a 12-month low of $205.37 and a 12-month high of $565.00. The company has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.78.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.13. Nova had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 29.21%.The business had revenue of $235.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.18 earnings per share. Nova’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Nova by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,200,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $605,701,000 after purchasing an additional 102,250 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in Nova by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,166,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $940,683,000 after purchasing an additional 697,210 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,493,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $490,502,000 after buying an additional 98,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,128,957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $377,402,000 after buying an additional 15,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 634,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $208,293,000 after buying an additional 26,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Nova from $500.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $494.00 price objective on Nova in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Nova from $520.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.22.

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.