Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) to Hold

Key Points

• Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Jefferies Financial Group, with a new target price of $175.00 following a previous target of $220.00.
• Despite the downgrade, multiple other analysts have raised their price targets for Icon, with UBS Group lifting theirs to $240.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Hedge funds and institutional investors own a significant 95.61% of Icon's stock, showcasing strong institutional support despite recent rating changes.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $175.00 price target on the medical research company's stock, down from their prior price target of $220.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ICLR. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Icon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $184.00 to $236.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Baird R W raised shares of Icon from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Icon from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Icon from $187.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Icon from $222.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.67.

Icon Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ ICLR traded down $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $175.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,597,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 967,129. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.20. Icon has a one year low of $125.10 and a one year high of $310.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.70.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.08. Icon had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Icon has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.000-14.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Icon will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Icon

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Trust purchased a new position in Icon during the second quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP increased its holdings in Icon by 61.6% during the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 57,461 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $8,358,000 after buying an additional 21,895 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in Icon by 48.9% during the second quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 3,795 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Icon during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,072,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Icon by 11.5% in the second 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. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Icon Company Profile

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies.