Shay Wolfing Sells 3,864 Shares of Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total transaction of $1,403,713.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,777,461.52. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nova Trading Down 1.0%

NVMI stock traded down $3.79 on Tuesday, hitting $359.02. 84,592 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 463,783. The stock has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.76. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $266.43 and a 1-year high of $615.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $390.49 and a 200-day moving average of $457.96.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nova announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Nova during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Nova by 688.9% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 71 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Nova by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research raised Nova from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Nova from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Nova from $640.00 to $570.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $514.44.

About Nova

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) is an Israel-based provider of metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company develops systems that help chip manufacturers measure and control critical process parameters during wafer fabrication, supporting the production of increasingly small and complex semiconductor devices.

Nova’s product portfolio includes optical and x-ray metrology systems, dimensional and materials measurement solutions, chemical metrology tools, and integrated metrology systems that can be incorporated into semiconductor production equipment.