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

Key Points

• Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) has a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy”, with nine analysts rating it hold, nine as buy, and two as strong buy, and an average price target of $217.33.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $3.26, exceeding estimates of $3.18, despite a 4.8% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• Institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in Icon, with 95.61% of shares owned by hedge funds and institutional players as of the second quarter.

Shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $217.3333.

Several research analysts have commented on ICLR shares. Baird R W raised shares of Icon from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Icon from $173.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Rothschild Redb raised shares of Icon from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, September 12th.

Icon Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ICLR stock opened at $193.89 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $173.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.90. Icon has a 12-month low of $125.10 and a 12-month high of $303.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Icon

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ICLR. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in Icon by 67.4% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,184,870 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,045,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,893,946 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Icon by 21.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,752,008 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $545,730,000 after buying an additional 650,379 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Icon by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,085,993 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $448,858,000 after buying an additional 98,032 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in 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 valued at $435,427,000 after buying an additional 75,465 shares during the period. Finally, Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. boosted its position in Icon by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. now owns 1,708,183 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $248,455,000 after buying an additional 453,833 shares during the period. 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.

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