James Investment Research Inc. Sells 705 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

James Investment Research Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,982 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 705 shares during the period. Nova makes up approximately 1.1% of James Investment Research Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in Nova were worth $8,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Nova by 131.0% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,540 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after buying an additional 7,678 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 74.6% during the third quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,281,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $267,487,000 after purchasing an additional 547,833 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Nova by 121.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 145,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,230,000 after purchasing an additional 79,700 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Nova during the third quarter valued at about $15,669,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nova during the third quarter valued at about $967,000. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NVMI shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Nova in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.67.

Nova Stock Down 0.4 %

Nova stock opened at $267.97 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a twelve month low of $154.54 and a twelve month high of $289.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $223.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.65. The company has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.44.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.04). Nova had a net margin of 28.00% and a return on equity of 21.35%. The company had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. Equities analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 5.78 EPS 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.