Signaturefd LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Signaturefd LLC trimmed its position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 850 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Nova were worth $167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVMI. Quarry LP boosted its position in Nova by 438.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Nova by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter valued at about $112,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nova by 79.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $196.76 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 1 year low of $158.00 and a 1 year high of $289.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $238.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.63. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NVMI. Benchmark lifted 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.83.

Nova 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.