Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Price Target Lowered to $300.00 at Cantor Fitzgerald

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald from $315.00 to $300.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 36.24% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on NVMI. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.83.

Nova Price Performance

NVMI traded up $4.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $220.19. 24,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 201,981. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $239.98 and a 200 day moving average of $211.36. Nova has a 12-month low of $158.00 and a 12-month high of $289.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its earnings results 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). Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. The business had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nova will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in Nova by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,411,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $474,980,000 after buying an additional 796,629 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in Nova by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $272,517,000 after purchasing an additional 101,470 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 7.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 97,000 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in shares of Nova by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,169,625 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $230,358,000 after purchasing an additional 11,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,047,782 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $205,985,000 after purchasing an additional 14,667 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

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.