Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Baird R W

Key Points

• Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating by analysts at Baird R W, indicating increased confidence in the stock's potential.
• Several firms have adjusted their price targets for Icon, with UBS Group raising it to $240.00 while Goldman Sachs lowered it to $160.00, reflecting mixed sentiments among analysts.
• Recent quarterly earnings showed that Icon reported $3.26 earnings per share, surpassing expectations, although its revenue decreased by 4.8% year-over-year.

Baird R W upgraded shares of Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ICLR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Icon from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Icon from $170.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Icon from $173.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Icon from $170.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Icon from $187.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.54.

Icon Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of ICLR stock traded down $4.81 on Thursday, reaching $180.41. 920,526 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,324,372. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business's 50 day moving average price is $146.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.36. The company has a market capitalization of $14.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.17. Icon has a twelve month low of $125.10 and a twelve month high of $338.67.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.08. Icon had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Icon will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICLR. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Icon during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Icon in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Icon in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Icon by 44.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 393 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Icon in the 1st quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.61% of the company's stock.

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.