Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $156.4375.

ICLR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Icon from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Icon from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $119.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Icon from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Icon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th.

Institutional Trading of Icon

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in Icon in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in Icon in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Icon in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Icon in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Icon in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Icon Stock Performance

NASDAQ ICLR opened at $144.59 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $120.28 and a 200-day moving average of $140.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.26. Icon has a 52-week low of $66.57 and a 52-week high of $211.00.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The medical research company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 billion. Icon had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.50%. Icon’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Icon will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

About Icon

Icon plc (NASDAQ: ICLR) is a global provider of outsourced drug development and clinical research services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The company partners with clients at all stages of the product life cycle, offering expertise in protocol design, trial execution and regulatory compliance across a broad range of therapeutic areas.

Icon’s service portfolio encompasses clinical trial management, data management and biostatistics, medical imaging, pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring, laboratory sciences and specialized analytical solutions.