Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

NVMI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore set a $475.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Nova in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Nova from $640.00 to $570.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $514.44.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI stock opened at $394.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.79. Nova has a one year low of $266.43 and a one year high of $615.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $376.12 and its 200 day moving average is $453.73.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $254.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Nova will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nova declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Nova

In related news, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,409 shares in the company, valued at $7,777,461.52. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total transaction of $513,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 27,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,314,535.78. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nova during the 2nd quarter worth $15,675,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Nova by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,224,000 after buying an additional 4,844 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Nova by 94.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 27,115 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,077,000 after buying an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Nova by 338.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 190,399 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,434,000 after buying an additional 146,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Nova during the second quarter worth about $2,647,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nova

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) is an Israel-based provider of process control and metrology solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company develops systems that help chipmakers measure and control critical wafer characteristics during production, supporting improvements in process performance, yield and device quality.

Its product portfolio includes optical and X-ray metrology systems used to measure dimensions, film thickness, material composition and other parameters across semiconductor manufacturing processes.