BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR)

Equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com 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 would suggest a potential upside of 5.83% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Icon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $184.00 to $236.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of Icon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Icon from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Leerink Partners set a $220.00 target price on Icon in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Icon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $220.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Icon has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.00.

Icon Stock Performance

Icon stock traded up $1.94 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $165.36. 106,512 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,217,313. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $176.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.22. Icon has a 1 year low of $125.10 and a 1 year high of $228.29.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Icon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Icon by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 141 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Icon during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Icon in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Icon during the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 153.4% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 332 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Icon Company Profile

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.