Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $185.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Icon from $164.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird set a $194.00 price target on Icon in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Icon in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Icon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.73.

Icon Price Performance

ICLR stock opened at $164.17 on Friday. Icon has a 1 year low of $66.57 and a 1 year high of $203.91. The company has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.54, a PEG ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $166.62 and a 200 day moving average of $147.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. Icon had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 8.02%. Icon’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Icon will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eugene Mccague sold 3,255 shares of Icon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $569,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,925. This trade represents a 46.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Anne Whitaker sold 841 shares of Icon stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $146,382.39. The trade was a 48.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,887,139. Insiders own 44.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Icon

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Icon by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,311,771 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $366,481,000 after buying an additional 310,236 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP raised its stake in Icon by 27.1% during the second quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,535,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $266,725,000 after buying an additional 327,314 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Icon by 257.8% in the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,199,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $208,383,000 after acquiring an additional 864,300 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Icon by 50.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 788,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,262,000 after acquiring an additional 265,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. bought a new stake in Icon in the fourth quarter worth $135,489,000. 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.