Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $170.40.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $160.00 price objective on Icon in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective (up from $207.00) on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, July 31st. William Blair upgraded Icon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research note on Friday, May 29th.

Icon Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of ICLR opened at $164.99 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.06. 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 has a 1 year low of $66.57 and a 1 year high of $203.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a PE ratio of 38.73, a P/E/G ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.21.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. Icon had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Icon will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Anne Clem Whitaker sold 841 shares of Icon stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $138,167.89. Following the sale, the director owned 891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $146,382.39. The trade was a 48.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Nigel Bernard John Clerkin sold 2,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total transaction of $372,445.43. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,189.49. This trade represents a 27.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,531 shares of company stock worth $1,565,764. 44.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Icon

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ICLR. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $899,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Icon by 11.5% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Icon by 21.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 391 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Icon by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,942 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Icon by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.