Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Stock Rated "Hold" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Wall Street rates Icon “Hold” overall: Of 18 analysts, nine recommend holding the stock, seven recommend buying, one strongly recommends buying and one recommends selling. The average 12-month price target is $174.73, versus a recent price of $164.34.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed but generally positive, with TD Cowen raising its target to $197 and Mizuho to $190, while JPMorgan, UBS and Bank of America maintained neutral ratings with targets ranging from $155 to $195.
• Icon slightly exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $2.56 versus a $2.55 consensus estimate and revenue of $2.06 billion, up 2.3% year over year. Insiders sold $3.89 million of shares over the past three months, while institutional investors own 95.61% of the stock.

Shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $174.73.

ICLR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Icon from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Icon from $164.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Icon in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Icon from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ICLR opened at $164.34 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $166.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.58 billion, a PE ratio of 38.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.24. Icon has a fifty-two week low of $66.57 and a fifty-two week high of $203.91.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.01. Icon had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Icon will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Icon

In related news, Director John Climax sold 5,005 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $875,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at $365,225. This represents a 70.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ciaran Murray sold 2,677 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $439,804.33. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,452 shares in the company, valued at $3,360,059.08. This represents a 11.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,887,139. 44.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Icon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Icon in the second quarter valued at about $1,876,000. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 257.8% during the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,199,600 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $208,383,000 after buying an additional 864,300 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Icon by 68.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 153,728 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $17,011,000 after buying an additional 62,225 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Icon by 27.1% during the second quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,535,462 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $266,725,000 after buying an additional 327,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC increased its position in Icon by 511.4% in the 2nd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 12,192 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,118,000 after acquiring an additional 10,198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company's stock.

Icon Company Profile

ICON plc is a global contract research and clinical development organization headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company provides outsourced services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government organizations, supporting the development and commercialization of healthcare products.

Its services span clinical trial management, clinical and regulatory consulting, data management, biostatistics, medical writing, pharmacovigilance, laboratory services, medical imaging and commercialization support.

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