Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• Icon shares rose above their 200-day moving average, reaching $172.94 and last trading at $172.45 versus the $139.10 long-term average. The stock is up 2.1%, with a market capitalization of approximately $13.2 billion.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally constructive: the consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $170.40, while recent targets range from $160 to $209 and several firms maintain Buy or Strong Buy ratings.
• Icon narrowly beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.56 in EPS and $2.06 billion in revenue, up 2.3% year over year. Institutional investors own 95.61% of the stock, while insiders have sold shares primarily to cover tax obligations tied to equity awards.

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $139.10 and traded as high as $172.94. Icon shares last traded at $172.45, with a volume of 862,416 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ICLR shares. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $209.00 price target (up from $207.00) on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research note on Friday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, William Blair raised Icon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Icon currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.40.

Icon Stock Up 2.1%

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $167.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.10. The company has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.01. Icon had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.26 EPS. Icon's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Icon Plc will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Icon

In other Icon news, Director Eugene Mccague sold 841 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $138,167.89. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at $626,109.19. This represents a 18.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Ronan Murphy sold 841 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $138,167.89. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $632,023.63. This trade represents a 17.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,531 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,764. Corporate insiders own 44.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Icon

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICLR. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Icon by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,311,771 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $366,481,000 after purchasing an additional 310,236 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,993,336 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $545,410,000 after purchasing an additional 239,808 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in Icon by 27.1% in the second quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,535,462 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $266,725,000 after purchasing an additional 327,314 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Icon by 555.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,496,479 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $272,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in Icon by 257.8% during the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,199,600 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $208,383,000 after buying an additional 864,300 shares during the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Icon Company Profile

ICON plc is a contract research and development organization that provides services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government clients. The company helps sponsors plan, manage and execute clinical development programs, supporting the progression of new medicines and healthcare products from early research through regulatory approval and commercialization.

Its services include clinical trial design and management, clinical data management, biostatistics, pharmacovigilance, regulatory consulting, medical affairs, laboratory services and real-world evidence.

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