Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $156.4375.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Icon from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on Icon from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Leerink Partners set a $145.00 price target on Icon in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research lowered Icon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $164.00 price target on Icon in a research note on Monday, June 1st.

Icon Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ICLR opened at $143.27 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Icon has a twelve month low of $66.57 and a twelve month high of $211.00.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 17th. The medical research company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 5.98%.Icon’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Icon will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Icon

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ICLR. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Icon during the second quarter valued at about $254,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 19.3% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 28,145 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,094,000 after acquiring an additional 4,546 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 97.6% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 71,360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,379,000 after acquiring an additional 35,253 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Icon in the second quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 58.7% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 781 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Icon Company Profile

Icon plc (NASDAQ: ICLR) is a global provider of outsourced drug development and clinical research services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The company partners with clients at all stages of the product life cycle, offering expertise in protocol design, trial execution and regulatory compliance across a broad range of therapeutic areas.

Icon’s service portfolio encompasses clinical trial management, data management and biostatistics, medical imaging, pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring, laboratory sciences and specialized analytical solutions.