Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Icon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $184.00 to $236.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Icon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $220.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of Icon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Icon from $183.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group set a $220.00 price target on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Icon has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.14.

Icon Stock Down 6.6%

Shares of NASDAQ ICLR opened at $165.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Icon has a 52 week low of $125.10 and a 52 week high of $234.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $178.45 and its 200 day moving average is $159.16. The company has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Institutional Trading of Icon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Icon by 67.4% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,184,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,045,039,000 after buying an additional 2,893,946 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position 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 worth $545,730,000 after buying an additional 650,379 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Icon by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,085,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $448,858,000 after buying an additional 98,032 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in shares of Icon by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,006,141 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $526,075,000 after buying an additional 12,489 shares during the period. Finally, Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. grew its position in shares of Icon by 36.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. now owns 1,708,183 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $248,455,000 after buying an additional 453,833 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.