Mizuho Issues Positive Forecast for Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Stock Price

Key Points

• Mizuho has raised its price target for Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) from $173.00 to $225.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.76% from the current price.
• Analysts have mixed views on Icon, with nine analysts rating it as a buy and others like Goldman Sachs and TD Cowen lowering their target prices.
• The company's recent earnings report showed $3.26 EPS for the quarter, surpassing estimates, but revenue fell by 4.8% year-over-year.
• Currently, 95.61% of Icon's stock is owned by institutional investors, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Mizuho from $173.00 to $225.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the medical research company's stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Icon from $187.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on Icon from $170.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on Icon from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Icon from $170.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Icon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $254.00 to $157.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.54.

Icon Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ ICLR traded down $4.45 on Friday, hitting $185.21. 1,550,517 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,328,063. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $145.74 and a 200 day moving average of $163.21. Icon has a twelve month low of $125.10 and a twelve month high of $338.67. The company has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Icon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICLR. Coho Partners Ltd. acquired a new stake in Icon in the second quarter worth approximately $33,649,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Icon by 18.1% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,060,499 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $157,887,000 after purchasing an additional 162,853 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in Icon by 2.6% in the second 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 during the period. Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its position 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Icon by 15,701.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 68,421 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $119,730,000 after purchasing an additional 67,988 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Icon

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.