Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ICLR has been the subject of several other research reports. DA Davidson set a $164.00 price target on Icon in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Leerink Partners set a $145.00 target price on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Icon to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Icon from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.73.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of ICLR stock opened at $177.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $154.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.54. The stock has a market cap of $13.59 billion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.22. Icon has a 1 year low of $66.57 and a 1 year high of $203.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 5.35%.Icon’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Icon will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Icon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICLR. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Icon by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Icon by 21.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 391 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Icon by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 643 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Icon by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

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.