Stephens Inc. AR Takes Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 14,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,813,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in Nova by 74.6% in the third quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,281,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $267,487,000 after buying an additional 547,833 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Nova by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 661,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $146,515,000 after acquiring an additional 353,906 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in Nova by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,370,985 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $270,015,000 after acquiring an additional 97,000 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Nova during the 3rd quarter valued at $19,659,000. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its stake in Nova by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 647,722 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $135,513,000 after purchasing an additional 90,883 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVMI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Nova from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Nova in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.33.

Nova Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $249.09 on Wednesday. Nova Ltd. has a 52 week low of $151.34 and a 52 week high of $266.13. The company has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $217.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.05.

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.