Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Buys New Stake in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 217,954 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,661,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned 0.76% of Nova at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in Nova by 74.9% during the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 604,977 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $83,202,000 after purchasing an additional 259,021 shares during the period. Carmignac Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter worth about $11,638,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter worth about $9,409,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 142,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $19,519,000 after acquiring an additional 47,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 294,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $40,438,000 after acquiring an additional 41,020 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NVMI traded down $2.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $203.58. 167,868 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 178,717. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.91, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.47. Nova Ltd. has a twelve month low of $90.59 and a twelve month high of $247.21.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The semiconductor company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $141.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $136.78 million. Nova had a net margin of 26.26% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVMI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Nova in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Nova from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Nova in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Nova from $223.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.60.

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.