Bank of America Downgrades Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) to Neutral

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) was downgraded by Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Monday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $195.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.83% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ICLR. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $175.00 price objective for the company. Rothschild Redb upgraded Icon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.31.

Icon Trading Down 1.2%

Icon stock traded down $2.32 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $184.26. 132,693 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,198,934. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $176.51 and its 200-day moving average is $166.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Icon has a fifty-two week low of $125.10 and a fifty-two week high of $228.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Icon by 67.4% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,184,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,045,039,000 after acquiring an additional 2,893,946 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 975,268 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,752,008 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,730,000 after purchasing an additional 650,379 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Icon by 11.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,427,630 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $599,835,000 after buying an additional 341,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Icon by 739.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,277,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $573,526,000 after buying an additional 2,886,755 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

About Icon

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.