NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) Trading Up 7.8% – Should You Buy?

NovoCure Limited (NASDAQ:NVCR) rose 7.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $16.94 and last traded at $17.0050. Approximately 249,696 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 1,766,242 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVCR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $48.00) on shares of NovoCure in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded NovoCure from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of NovoCure in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of NovoCure in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NovoCure from $13.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.67.

NovoCure Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $16.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 2.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.24 and a beta of 0.94.

NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.62) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $174.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.77 million. NovoCure had a negative net margin of 25.66% and a negative return on equity of 50.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.31) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that NovoCure Limited will post -1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeryl L. Hilleman 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 transaction of $46,442.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,587.97. This represents a 17.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 NovoCure stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.77, for a total value of $46,442.65. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,324 shares in the company, valued at $178,579.48. The trade was a 20.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,943 shares of company stock valued at $893,171. 5.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NovoCure

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi grew its holdings in NovoCure by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 47,583 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 7,907 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 43,257 shares during the period. Eversept Partners LP increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 13,939 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of NovoCure by 23.7% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,487,376 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,112,000 after acquiring an additional 477,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of NovoCure by 11.8% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,551,554 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,912,000 after acquiring an additional 163,800 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NovoCure

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.