Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Trading Down 6.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) fell 6.5% on Wednesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $310.00 to $248.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Nova traded as low as $174.65 and last traded at $174.70. 34,720 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 225,194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.78.

Several other research firms have also commented on NVMI. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.50.

Institutional Trading of Nova

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Nova by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Nova by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its stake in shares of Nova by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 4,742 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $216.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.31.

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

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.