Icon Plc (ICLR) - What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts hold a “Moderate Buy” consensus: Of 20 analysts, nine rate Icon a buy, one a strong buy, nine a hold and one a sell. The average 12-month price target is $213.76, with recent targets ranging from $236 to $268.
• Icon reported quarterly EPS of $2.66, topping the $2.62 consensus, and revenue of $2.02 billion, slightly above expectations. Revenue was down 0.9% year over year, while EPS fell from $3.31 in the year-ago quarter.
• Company insiders sold 33,447 shares worth about $6.1 million over the past 90 days. The CEO and CFO said their reported sales were to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards.

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $213.76.

ICLR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Icon from $195.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Icon from $210.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Icon from $209.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Icon in a report on Wednesday, October 28th.

Icon Stock Performance

NASDAQ ICLR opened at $204.74 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Icon has a 12-month low of $66.57 and a 12-month high of $219.04. The firm has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a PEG ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 1.19.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 5.45%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Icon will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Icon

In other Icon news, CFO Bernard Clerkin sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.66, for a total transaction of $307,510.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 7,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,481,958.86. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Barry Balfe sold 5,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.66, for a total transaction of $1,069,465.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,920,078.06. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 33,447 shares of company stock worth $6,078,216 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 44.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Icon

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Icon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Icon by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 391 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Icon by 1,062.0% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 918 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Icon by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 616 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Icon by 804.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,312 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Icon

ICON plc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides outsourced development services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government organizations. Its work supports the development of medicines and other healthcare products from early research through clinical trials and regulatory submission.

The company's services include clinical trial design and management, data management and biostatistics, regulatory support, laboratory services, medical imaging and patient recruitment.

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