Trexquant Investment LP Has $6.47 Million Position in Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 99.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,826 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 16,336 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.11% of Nova worth $6,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its position in Nova by 1.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Nova by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Nova by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 5,032 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $991,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Performance

NVMI opened at $162.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $227.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.72. Nova Ltd. has a twelve month low of $154.00 and a twelve month high of $289.90.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $194.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.50 million. Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NVMI. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark raised their price target on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.