Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $115.43, but opened at $107.50. Icon shares last traded at $107.0790, with a volume of 200,807 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on ICLR shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Icon from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $100.00 price target on Icon and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on Icon from $200.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Zacks Research lowered Icon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $222.00 price objective (down from $231.00) on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.80.

Icon Stock Down 7.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $105.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.28.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Icon

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Icon by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,637,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $811,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,268 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position in Icon by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 4,214,661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,996,000 after acquiring an additional 75,843 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Icon by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,756,896 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $684,582,000 after acquiring an additional 329,266 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Icon by 739.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,277,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $573,526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886,755 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in Icon by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,006,141 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $526,075,000 after acquiring an additional 12,489 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

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.