Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $565.00 and last traded at $565.4930, with a volume of 28749 shares. The stock had previously closed at $559.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Nova from $500.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Nova from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Nova from $520.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $518.22.

Nova Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.76, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $504.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $439.01.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The semiconductor company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $235.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.02 million. Nova had a net margin of 29.21% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.18 EPS. Nova has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.340-2.480 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova Ltd. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other Nova news, Director Eitan Oppenhaim sold 1,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.48, for a total value of $781,297.92. Following the sale, the director owned 6,668 shares in the company, valued at $3,463,892.64. This trade represents a 18.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Yaniv Garty sold 426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.49, for a total transaction of $219,172.74. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,530.62. The trade was a 17.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 2,411 shares of company stock worth $1,243,018 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVMI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Nova in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nova during the third quarter worth about $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nova by 75.7% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Nova by 2,042.9% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nova by 51.6% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 376 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Nova Company Profile

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies advanced metrology and process control systems for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company’s core product line includes spectroscopic ellipsometry and scatterometry tools designed to measure film thickness, critical dimensions, overlay alignment and other key parameters that drive yield and performance in integrated circuit fabrication.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, Nova Measuring Instruments has established itself as a critical partner to leading semiconductor foundries and device manufacturers.