NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) Stock Price Up 4.8% on Analyst Upgrade

NovoCure Limited (NASDAQ:NVCR) shares rose 4.8% on Thursday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $24.00. HC Wainwright currently has a neutral rating on the stock. NovoCure traded as high as $15.36 and last traded at $15.35. Approximately 186,158 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 1,363,427 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.64.

NVCR has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NovoCure from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of NovoCure from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of NovoCure in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Frank X. Leonard sold 1,679 shares of NovoCure stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.03, for a total transaction of $26,914.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 160,938 shares in the company, valued at $2,579,836.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Frank X. Leonard sold 2,078 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.14, for a total value of $33,538.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 162,617 shares in the company, valued at $2,624,638.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frank X. Leonard sold 1,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.03, for a total transaction of $26,914.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 160,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,579,836.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,921 shares of company stock worth $127,161 over the last 90 days. 5.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NovoCure

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of NovoCure by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,857 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in NovoCure by 280.8% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,702 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after buying an additional 9,366 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in NovoCure by 0.6% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,732,513 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $557,787,000 after buying an additional 43,157 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of NovoCure by 2.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 127,433 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $10,559,000 after acquiring an additional 2,534 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new stake in shares of NovoCure during the 1st quarter worth about $572,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NovoCure Trading Up 8.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of -8.15 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 5.56 and a current ratio of 5.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.46.

NovoCure (NASDAQ:NVCR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.08. NovoCure had a negative return on equity of 51.63% and a negative net margin of 40.65%. The business had revenue of $133.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.36) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NovoCure Limited will post -1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About NovoCure

NovoCure Limited, an oncology company, engages in the development, manufacture, and commercialization of tumor treating fields (TTFields) devices for the treatment of solid tumor cancers in the United States, Germany, Japan, Greater China, and internationally. The company's TTFields devices include Optune Gio and Optune Lua.