Phoenix Financial Ltd. Acquires 822,684 Shares of Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 133.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,440,315 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 822,684 shares during the quarter. Nova comprises about 3.7% of Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Phoenix Financial Ltd. owned about 4.53% of Nova worth $554,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 5.3% in the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,706,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $657,404,000 after purchasing an additional 86,000 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in Nova by 1,148.9% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 40,090 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,443,000 after buying an additional 36,880 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nova by 5,866.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,489 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,115,000 after buying an additional 5,397 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Nova by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 1,713 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. purchased a new position in Nova in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup cut Nova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Nova from $570.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Evercore set a $475.00 target price on Nova in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other Nova news, Director Raanan Cohen sold 2,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.00, for a total value of $800,656.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,171,970. This trade represents a 40.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total value of $1,403,713.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,777,461.52. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 7,820 shares of company stock worth $2,717,775 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI traded down $9.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $317.86. The stock had a trading volume of 295,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,133. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $266.43 and a 1 year high of $615.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $344.53 and its 200-day moving average is $433.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 5.39 and a current ratio of 6.21.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $287.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $282.23 million. Nova had a net margin of 29.87% and a return on equity of 22.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. Nova has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.030-3.180 EPS. Research analysts predict that Nova Ltd. will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nova announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, September 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $200 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Nova Profile

Nova Ltd. develops metrology and process-control solutions used in semiconductor manufacturing. Its systems measure the dimensions and material properties of structures on silicon wafers, helping chipmakers monitor and control production processes as devices become smaller and more complex. The company’s offerings include optical and X-ray measurement systems, alongside software that analyzes process data. These tools are used in wafer-fabrication facilities and research and development environments.