Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $213.76.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ICLR shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $254.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Icon from $175.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Zacks Research raised Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Icon from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th.

Icon Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:ICLR opened at $200.51 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $178.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.39. The company has a market cap of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51, a PEG ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Icon has a one year low of $66.57 and a one year high of $219.04.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.04. Icon had a net margin of 5.45% and a return on equity of 7.73%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Icon will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Icon

In other news, CEO Barry Balfe sold 5,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.66, for a total value of $1,069,465.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,920,078.06. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Ciaran Murray sold 3,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.66, for a total transaction of $709,938.32. Following the sale, the director owned 17,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,496,220. This trade represents a 16.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 23,916 shares of company stock valued at $4,512,452 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 44.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Icon by 10.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,311,771 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $366,481,000 after purchasing an additional 310,236 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its position in shares of Icon by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,535,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $266,725,000 after purchasing an additional 327,314 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Icon by 257.8% during the 2nd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,199,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $208,383,000 after purchasing an additional 864,300 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Icon by 50.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 788,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,262,000 after purchasing an additional 265,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 771,246 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $131,104,000 after buying an additional 50,985 shares in the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Icon

ICON plc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides outsourced development services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government organizations. Its work supports the development of medicines and other healthcare products from early research through clinical trials and regulatory submission. The company’s services include clinical trial design and management, data management and biostatistics, regulatory support, laboratory services, medical imaging and patient recruitment.