Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,530,000 shares, an increase of 28.6% from the February 28th total of 1,190,000 shares. Currently, 5.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 259,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Nova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Nova from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on 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 six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.83.

Nova Stock Performance

Shares of NVMI stock traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $184.33. The company had a trading volume of 229,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,442. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. Nova has a twelve month low of $158.00 and a twelve month high of $289.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.60.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Nova by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,411,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $474,980,000 after acquiring an additional 796,629 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Nova by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 661,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $146,515,000 after purchasing an additional 353,906 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its position in shares of Nova by 504.5% in 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. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Nova by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 600,868 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $118,341,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,383,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,517,000 after buying an additional 101,470 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nova

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.