Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Receives Market Perform Rating from Leerink Partners

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating restated by research analysts at Leerink Partners in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $105.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Leerink Partners’ price target indicates a potential downside of 21.14% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ICLR. Bank of America downgraded shares of Icon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group set a $220.00 target price on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, October 24th. Mizuho set a $216.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Icon from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Icon presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.93.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of Icon stock opened at $133.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $179.90 and a 200 day moving average of $176.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Icon has a 12 month low of $125.10 and a 12 month high of $211.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Icon

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tributary Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Icon by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,057,000 after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in Icon by 15.7% in the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 480,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $84,018,000 after buying an additional 65,264 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Icon in the third quarter worth about $1,730,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Icon by 739.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,277,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $573,526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Icon by 12.4% during the third quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 200,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,129,000 after acquiring an additional 22,164 shares during the last quarter. 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.