Sei Investments Co. Buys 25,728 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 145,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,728 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Nova were worth $28,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Nova by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 5,032 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Nova by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,576 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,482,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nova Stock Down 1.2 %

NVMI opened at $201.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. Nova Ltd. has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $289.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.71.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last announced its quarterly 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NVMI. Citigroup raised shares of 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.83.

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.