Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 168,362 Shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lessened its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 51.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 159,197 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 168,362 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in Nova were worth $31,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Nova by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Nova in the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Nova by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nova by 79.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI opened at $196.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.63. Nova Ltd. has a 52 week low of $154.00 and a 52 week high of $289.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $204.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.08.

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). The company had revenue of $194.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.50 million. Nova had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 27.33%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nova presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.60.

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.