Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 674,453 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,171 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Nova were worth $132,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Nova by 438.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Nova by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at about $112,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nova by 79.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter worth about $237,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $191.68 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $230.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.17. Nova Ltd. has a 1-year low of $158.00 and a 1-year high of $289.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The business had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NVMI shares. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.83.

Nova Profile

Nova Ltd. designs, develops, produces, and sells process control systems used in the manufacture of semiconductors in Israel, Taiwan, the United States, China, Korea, and internationally. Its product portfolio includes a set of metrology platforms for dimensional, films, and materials and chemical metrology measurements for process control for various semiconductor manufacturing process steps, including lithography, etch, chemical mechanical planarization, deposition, electrochemical plating, and advanced packaging.