Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $204.64, but opened at $218.79. Nova shares last traded at $219.15, with a volume of 90,236 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVMI has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday. Benchmark increased their target price on Nova from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.00.

Nova Stock Up 1.5 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.52 and a 200 day moving average of $204.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.42.

Institutional Trading of Nova

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Nova by 131.0% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,540 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after acquiring an additional 7,678 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,281,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $267,487,000 after purchasing an additional 547,833 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Nova by 121.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 145,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,230,000 after purchasing an additional 79,700 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Nova in the third quarter valued at approximately $15,669,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Nova during the third quarter valued at approximately $967,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.