NovoCure Limited (NASDAQ:NVCR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• NovoCure has a consensus “Hold” rating from seven analysts: four holds, two buys and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $21.20, compared with the stock’s reported price of $17.99.
• The company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of negative $0.13 versus the consensus estimate of negative $0.33 and revenue of $183.58 million, up 15.6% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 84.61% of NovoCure, while insiders sold approximately $893,000 worth of shares over the past three months. The stock has traded between $9.82 and $21.45 over the past year.

Shares of NovoCure Limited (NASDAQ:NVCR - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.20.

NVCR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright set a $32.00 price objective on NovoCure in a report on Friday, July 24th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of NovoCure in a research report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of NovoCure in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NovoCure from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of NovoCure from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NovoCure news, Director W Anthony Vernon sold 2,945 shares of NovoCure stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.77, for a total value of $46,442.65. Following the transaction, the director owned 197,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,050.89. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Timothy J. Scannell sold 2,945 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.77, for a total value of $46,442.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,288 shares in the company, valued at $225,321.76. This represents a 17.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 51,943 shares of company stock worth $893,171. Company insiders own 6.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NovoCure

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of NovoCure by 1,144.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,774,004 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $26,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,631,443 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NovoCure during the second quarter valued at $590,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NovoCure during the second quarter valued at $162,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new position in shares of NovoCure in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of NovoCure by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 51,223 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 13,900 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NovoCure Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVCR opened at $17.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.84 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.70. NovoCure has a 12 month low of $9.82 and a 12 month high of $21.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $16.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.77.

NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.20. NovoCure had a negative return on equity of 44.00% and a negative net margin of 21.25%.The firm had revenue of $183.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.44 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.36) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that NovoCure will post -1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NovoCure Company Profile

NovoCure is a global oncology company pioneering Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields), a novel anti-mitotic therapy for solid tumors. The company's non-invasive treatment platforms deliver low-intensity, alternating electric fields designed to disrupt cancer cell division. NovoCure's approach offers an alternative modality to complement existing therapies in oncology, with a focus on hard-to-treat malignancies.

Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Haifa, Israel, NovoCure maintains a second operational center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

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