Norges Bank Takes Position in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 328,477 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,568,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Nova by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,360 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Nova by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 38,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,664,000 after purchasing an additional 6,804 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Nova by 2,128.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 128,641 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,121,000 after purchasing an additional 122,869 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nova by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,113,762 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $354,172,000 after purchasing an additional 10,441 shares during the period. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in shares of Nova by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,493,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $490,502,000 after purchasing an additional 98,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Nova from $500.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Nova from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nova news, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.49, for a total transaction of $219,172.74. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,253,812.13. The trade was a 14.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.48, for a total value of $781,297.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,463,892.64. This represents a 18.40% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 2,411 shares of company stock worth $1,243,018 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nova Trading Down 1.8%

NVMI stock opened at $520.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $497.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $430.91. Nova Ltd. has a 12-month low of $215.26 and a 12-month high of $565.00. The company has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a PE ratio of 64.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.75.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $235.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.02 million. Nova had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 29.21%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.18 earnings per share. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nova Company Profile

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.