Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $198.08.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ICLR. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Icon from $192.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Icon from $200.00 to $173.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen downgraded Icon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $254.00 to $157.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Icon from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Icon

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ninety One North America Inc. grew its holdings in Icon by 20.5% in the second quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 428,851 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $62,376,000 after purchasing an additional 72,945 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Icon by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,993,652 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $435,427,000 after purchasing an additional 75,465 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Icon by 112.0% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,456 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,448,000 after purchasing an additional 19,789 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Icon by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,145 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,803,000 after buying an additional 5,982 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in Icon by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 87,573 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $12,737,000 after buying an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ICLR opened at $143.54 on Monday. Icon has a one year low of $125.10 and a one year high of $342.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.08.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.17 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.03 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 9.25%. Icon's revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.47 EPS. Research analysts predict that Icon will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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