Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $174.73 According to Analysts

Shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $174.73.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Icon from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Icon in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Icon

In other news, Director Ciaran Murray sold 2,677 shares of Icon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total transaction of $439,804.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,360,059.08. The trade was a 11.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Bernard Clerkin sold 2,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $372,445.43. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 5,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,189.49. The trade was a 27.82% decrease in their position. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,887,139. 44.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ICLR. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Icon by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 391 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Icon by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 866 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Icon in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 616 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of Icon stock opened at $170.18 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $167.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.51. The company has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a PE ratio of 39.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Icon has a 52 week low of $66.57 and a 52 week high of $203.91.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.01. Icon had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 3.99%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Icon will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Icon Company Profile

ICON plc is a global contract research and clinical development organization headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company provides outsourced services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government organizations, supporting the development and commercialization of healthcare products.

Its services span clinical trial management, clinical and regulatory consulting, data management, biostatistics, medical writing, pharmacovigilance, laboratory services, medical imaging and commercialization support.