Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Barclays from $150.00 to $160.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 0.05% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on ICLR. Weiss Ratings downgraded Icon from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group set a $160.00 price objective on Icon in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Icon from $120.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Icon from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Icon to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.31.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of Icon stock traded up $17.25 on Wednesday, hitting $159.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 469,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,511,983. The company has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 1.26. Icon has a 52-week low of $66.57 and a 52-week high of $211.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.07. Icon had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Icon will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ICLR. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Icon by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,080,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $203,800,000 after buying an additional 11,335 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Icon during the third quarter worth about $39,074,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Icon during the fourth quarter worth about $123,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,753,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $481,692,000 after purchasing an additional 719,301 shares during the period. Finally, Trinity Street Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,072,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $195,418,000 after purchasing an additional 201,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

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.