NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) Trading 8.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

NovoCure Limited (NASDAQ:NVCR)’s stock price traded up 8.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $17.17 and last traded at $17.4710. 99,429 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 1,759,140 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of NovoCure in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of NovoCure in a research report on Friday, May 1st. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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, Weiss Ratings raised shares of NovoCure from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.29.

NovoCure Trading Down 4.6%

The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.22 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.22.

NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $174.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.77 million. NovoCure had a negative return on equity of 50.82% and a negative net margin of 25.66%.The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.31) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NovoCure Limited will post -1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy J. Scannell sold 2,945 shares of NovoCure stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 14,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $225,321.76. This trade represents a 17.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Jeryl L. Hilleman sold 2,945 shares of NovoCure 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 transaction, the director owned 13,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,587.97. This trade represents a 17.52% 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 sold 51,943 shares of company stock worth $893,171. Company insiders own 5.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVCR. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in NovoCure by 453.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,069,895 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $65,554,000 after acquiring an additional 4,153,741 shares during the period. Soleus Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in NovoCure by 25.0% during the second quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,904,302 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $122,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382,888 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in NovoCure by 1,093.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,223,755 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $15,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,192 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in NovoCure by 346.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,245,541 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,576,000 after acquiring an additional 966,735 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in NovoCure during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,991,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.