Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $170.40.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners set a $145.00 target price on Icon in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Icon from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group set a $160.00 target price on Icon in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Icon from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Icon Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:ICLR opened at $170.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a P/E/G ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $167.20 and a 200 day moving average of $134.06. Icon has a 52 week low of $66.57 and a 52 week high of $203.91.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.01. Icon had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Icon will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Icon news, Director Anne Clem Whitaker sold 841 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total transaction of $138,167.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $146,382.39. This trade represents a 48.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Ronan Martin Murphy sold 841 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total transaction of $138,167.89. Following the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,023.63. This trade represents a 17.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 9,531 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,764 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 44.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Icon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ICLR. VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Icon by 511.4% during the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 12,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,118,000 after purchasing an additional 10,198 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Icon in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,337,000. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Icon in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $236,000. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Icon by 257.8% in the 2nd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,199,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $208,383,000 after buying an additional 864,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Icon during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $900,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

About Icon

Icon plc (NASDAQ: ICLR) is a global provider of outsourced drug development and clinical research services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The company partners with clients at all stages of the product life cycle, offering expertise in protocol design, trial execution and regulatory compliance across a broad range of therapeutic areas.

Icon’s service portfolio encompasses clinical trial management, data management and biostatistics, medical imaging, pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring, laboratory sciences and specialized analytical solutions.