Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Price Target Raised to $254.00

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) had its price target hoisted by TD Cowen from $197.00 to $254.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Icon from $195.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Icon from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Icon from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $254.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.76.

Icon Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:ICLR opened at $211.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.32. Icon has a 1 year low of $66.57 and a 1 year high of $219.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.38, a PEG ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.52.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.04. Icon had a net margin of 5.45% and a return on equity of 7.73%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Icon will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Icon

In other Icon news, Director Ciaran Murray sold 2,677 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $439,804.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,360,059.08. This trade represents a 11.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Bernard Clerkin sold 2,267 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 $372,445.43. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 5,881 shares in the company, valued at $966,189.49. This represents a 27.82% 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 23,068 shares of company stock worth $3,936,744 over the last 90 days. 44.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in Icon by 0.4% in the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 20,762 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Icon during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Icon during the 3rd quarter worth $571,000. Pullen Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Icon during the 3rd quarter worth $907,000. Finally, Gibbs Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Icon in the 3rd quarter worth about $235,000. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Icon

ICON plc is a global contract research organization that provides outsourced development services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. The company supports clinical research programs from early development through late-stage trials, regulatory submission and post-marketing activities.

Its services include clinical trial management, medical and regulatory consulting, biostatistics, data management, pharmacovigilance, laboratory services and real-world evidence solutions.