Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) is Sphera Funds Management LTD.’s 8th Largest Position

Sphera Funds Management LTD. grew its position in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,146 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,186 shares during the period. Nova makes up 2.4% of Sphera Funds Management LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Sphera Funds Management LTD.’s holdings in Nova were worth $13,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Nova during the 4th quarter valued at $9,859,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its position in shares of Nova by 504.5% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 354,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,780,000 after purchasing an additional 295,691 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc grew its position in shares of Nova by 1,521.0% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 25,580 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,038,000 after purchasing an additional 24,002 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Nova by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 13,211 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nova by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 105,070 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nova Stock Performance

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $195.13 on Friday. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $154.00 and a 52-week high of $289.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.02 and a 200-day moving average of $207.16.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.10 million. Nova had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 22.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on NVMI. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Nova from $310.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Nova from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Nova from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Nova from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.00.

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.