Insider Selling: Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) CEO Sells $513,405.00 in Stock

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total value of $513,405.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 27,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,314,535.78. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Gabriel Waisman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 2nd, Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of Nova stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total value of $1,486,855.80.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ NVMI opened at $372.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $417.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $464.50. Nova Ltd. has a 52-week low of $248.87 and a 52-week high of $615.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.76.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.10. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%.The business had revenue of $254.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.33 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nova announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $475.00 target price on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised Nova from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Nova in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Nova from $465.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nova has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $514.44.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Nova during the second quarter worth $38,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nova in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Nova during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Nova by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Nova by 2,042.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.