NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on NVCR. Wedbush upped their price objective on NovoCure from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of NovoCure in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NovoCure from $13.50 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NovoCure from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $32.00 price target on shares of NovoCure in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.20.

NovoCure Price Performance

NovoCure stock opened at $17.82 on Friday. NovoCure has a fifty-two week low of $9.82 and a fifty-two week high of $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a current ratio of 2.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.71 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NovoCure news, Director W Anthony Vernon sold 2,945 shares of NovoCure stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.77, for a total value of $46,442.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 197,657 shares in the company, valued at $3,117,050.89. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.77, for a total transaction of $46,442.65. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 51,943 shares of company stock worth $893,171 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NovoCure

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NovoCure during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new position in NovoCure in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in NovoCure during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in NovoCure by 662.1% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,100 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,562 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in NovoCure during the first quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.