NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on NVCR. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of NovoCure in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised NovoCure from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of NovoCure from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NovoCure from $13.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of NovoCure from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.20.

NovoCure Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NVCR opened at $16.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.61 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.29 and a 200 day moving average of $14.26. 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 1-year low of $9.82 and a 1-year high of $21.45.

NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.20. The business had revenue of $183.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.44 million. NovoCure had a negative net margin of 21.25% and a negative return on equity of 44.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.36) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NovoCure will post -1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NovoCure news, Director Timothy J. Scannell sold 2,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.77, for a total transaction of $46,442.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,288 shares in the company, valued at $225,321.76. The trade was a 17.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Frank X. Leonard sold 34,273 shares of NovoCure stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.93, for a total transaction of $614,514.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 459,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,239,193.60. This represents a 6.94% 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 in the last three months. 6.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVCR. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in NovoCure by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in NovoCure by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 137,106 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of NovoCure by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,442 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of NovoCure by 2.2% in the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 59,400 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in NovoCure by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,830 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

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.