NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

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

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NovoCure from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on NovoCure in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised NovoCure from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NovoCure from $13.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $32.00 target price on NovoCure in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NovoCure presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.20.

NovoCure Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NVCR opened at $17.65 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.60 and a 200-day moving average of $14.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.58 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. NovoCure has a twelve month low of $9.82 and a twelve month high of $21.45.

NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $183.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.36) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that NovoCure will post -1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at NovoCure

In other NovoCure news, CEO Frank X. Leonard sold 34,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.93, for a total value of $614,514.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 459,520 shares in the company, valued at $8,239,193.60. This trade represents a 6.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NovoCure

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVCR. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in NovoCure by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in NovoCure by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 137,106 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its stake in NovoCure by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 59,400 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of NovoCure by 14.9% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of NovoCure by 9.0% in the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 21,454 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 1,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

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.