Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Now Covered by BMO Capital Markets

Investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $175.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 5.83% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, October 24th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Icon from $183.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Leerink Partners set a $220.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Icon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $184.00 to $236.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.00.

Icon Trading Up 1.2%

Icon stock traded up $1.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $165.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 106,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,217,313. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.66. Icon has a 12 month low of $125.10 and a 12 month high of $228.29. The stock has a market cap of $13.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 7.40%.Icon’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.35 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Icon will post 13.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Icon by 67.4% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,184,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,045,039,000 after acquiring an additional 2,893,946 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Icon by 739.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,277,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $573,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886,755 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P bought a new position in Icon in the second quarter worth about $238,256,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Icon during the second quarter valued at about $158,639,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Icon by 587.9% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,151,328 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $167,461,000 after buying an additional 983,950 shares during the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.