Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Stock Rating Raised to Hold at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Icon from $164.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. William Blair upgraded Icon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price (up from $207.00) on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.40.

Icon Stock Performance

ICLR stock opened at $169.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $13.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a P/E/G ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.97. Icon has a 52 week low of $66.57 and a 52 week high of $203.91.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.01. Icon had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Icon will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Icon news, CFO Bernard Clerkin sold 2,267 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total transaction of $372,445.43. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,189.49. This represents a 27.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Ciaran Murray sold 2,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $439,804.33. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,360,059.08. This trade represents a 11.57% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,887,139. Corporate insiders own 44.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ICLR. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in Icon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Icon by 308.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 120.0% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 616 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 207.5% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 658 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Icon

ICON plc is a global contract research and clinical development organization headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company provides outsourced services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government organizations, supporting the development and commercialization of healthcare products.

Its services span clinical trial management, clinical and regulatory consulting, data management, biostatistics, medical writing, pharmacovigilance, laboratory services, medical imaging and commercialization support.