Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

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

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Icon in a report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Icon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $183.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.47.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of ICLR opened at $108.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Icon has a 1 year low of $66.57 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $159.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Icon

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICLR. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Icon by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 141 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Icon in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Icon in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Icon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Icon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

About Icon

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.