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

Key Points

• NovoCure currently has an average analyst rating of “Hold” from eight covering firms, with four buy ratings, three holds, and one sell. The average 12-month price target is about $27.29.
• The company’s latest quarterly results showed EPS of -$0.62, missing expectations, though revenue of $174.06 million beat estimates and rose 12.3% year over year.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including directors W. Anthony Vernon and Allyson J. Ocean, while institutional investors still own about 84.61% of the stock.

Shares of NovoCure Limited (NASDAQ:NVCR - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.2857.

Several equities analysts have commented on NVCR shares. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of NovoCure in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NovoCure from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of NovoCure in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NovoCure from $13.50 to $17.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of NovoCure from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NovoCure news, Director W Anthony Vernon sold 2,945 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 197,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,117,050.89. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Allyson J. Ocean sold 2,945 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.77, for a total transaction of $46,442.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,324 shares of the company's stock, valued at $178,579.48. This represents a 20.64% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 51,943 shares of company stock worth $893,171 over the last three months. 5.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NovoCure

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of NovoCure by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 47,583 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of NovoCure by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 142,561 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 43,257 shares in the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of NovoCure by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 134,917 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 13,939 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of NovoCure by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,487,376 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $27,112,000 after purchasing an additional 477,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of NovoCure by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,551,554 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $16,912,000 after purchasing an additional 163,800 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NovoCure Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NVCR opened at $17.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a current ratio of 2.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.62 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.42. NovoCure has a fifty-two week low of $9.82 and a fifty-two week high of $18.92.

NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.62) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.51) by ($0.11). NovoCure had a negative return on equity of 50.82% and a negative net margin of 25.66%.The company had revenue of $174.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.31) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that NovoCure will post -1.55 EPS for the current 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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