Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Shares Up 8.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) shares traded up 8.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $186.64 and last traded at $183.0990. 224,860 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,410,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.78.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on ICLR. Piper Sandler cut shares of Icon to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Truist Financial raised shares of Icon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $159.00 to $207.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Icon from $164.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Icon has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.73.

Institutional Trading of Icon

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Icon by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Icon by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Icon by 21.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 391 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Icon by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 643 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Icon by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Icon Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $13.59 billion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $154.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.54.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.01. Icon had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 5.35%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. Icon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Icon Plc will post 9.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Icon Company Profile

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.