ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $279.17.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $255.00 price target (down previously from $270.00) on shares of ICON Public in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of ICON Public from $300.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $263.00 price target on shares of ICON Public in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of ICON Public from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of ICON Public from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

ICON Public Price Performance

Shares of ICLR stock opened at $185.77 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $195.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.43. ICON Public has a 12 month low of $174.93 and a 12 month high of $347.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.21.

ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. ICON Public had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 11.81%. Analysts predict that ICON Public will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of ICON Public

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in ICON Public by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 177,761 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,279,000 after purchasing an additional 11,177 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its position in ICON Public by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 158,947 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in shares of ICON Public by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 97,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,363,000 after buying an additional 28,050 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of ICON Public by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 64,038 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,342,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc increased its stake in shares of ICON Public by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 51,713 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,845,000 after buying an additional 11,089 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ICON Public Company Profile

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.