Acadian Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Acadian Asset Management LLC cut its position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 3.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 776,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 26,461 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nova were worth $182,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Nova by 231.2% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 31,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,514,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nova by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 987,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $175,087,000 after acquiring an additional 14,115 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nova during the first quarter worth $2,589,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 12.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 128,423 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,780,000 after purchasing an additional 14,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Nova during the first quarter valued at $38,661,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NVMI shares. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Nova from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Nova from $223.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Nova in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.60.

Nova Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $197.20 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 52 week low of $90.59 and a 52 week high of $247.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $217.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 45.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.46.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $156.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.12 million. Nova had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 27.38%. Nova’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nova Company 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.