Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Short Interest Update

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,530,000 shares, an increase of 28.6% from the February 28th total of 1,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 259,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days. Currently, 5.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

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

Nova Price Performance

Shares of NVMI stock traded up $0.57 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $184.90. The company had a trading volume of 327,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,961. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.30. Nova has a one year low of $158.00 and a one year high of $289.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.21, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on NVMI shares. Citigroup upgraded Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.83.

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.