Virtu Financial LLC Has $1.56 Million Stock Position in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 579.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,762 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 4,061 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Nova were worth $1,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nova by 185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 607,344 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $194,144,000 after purchasing an additional 394,544 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 286.3% in the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 508,641 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $167,115,000 after purchasing an additional 376,974 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at about $109,568,000. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Nova in the third quarter valued at about $79,915,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nova during the 3rd quarter worth about $79,398,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVMI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Nova from $520.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $518.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other 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 transaction of $781,297.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,463,892.64. This trade represents a 18.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Yaniv Garty sold 426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,038 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,530.62. This represents a 17.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 2,411 shares of company stock valued at $1,243,018 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Nova Stock Performance

NVMI opened at $575.31 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $519.70 and a 200-day moving average of $449.35. The company has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.75. Nova Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $224.00 and a fifty-two week high of $615.99.

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

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.