Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Sets New 52-Week High Following Strong Earnings

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $194.51 and last traded at $193.64, with a volume of 104273 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $181.12.

The semiconductor company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.29. Nova had a return on equity of 20.55% and a net margin of 26.32%. The company had revenue of $141.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $136.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Nova in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Nova from $150.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Nova by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,312,919 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $147,625,000 after purchasing an additional 27,050 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nova by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,070,485 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $147,074,000 after purchasing an additional 33,800 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Nova by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 972,956 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $133,674,000 after purchasing an additional 13,891 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in shares of Nova by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 604,977 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $83,202,000 after purchasing an additional 259,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its position in shares of Nova by 2.8% in the first quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 434,621 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $76,590,000 after purchasing an additional 11,842 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nova Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 45.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.40.

About Nova

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.