Icon (ICLR) Downgraded by Zacks Investment Research to “Hold”

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

According to Zacks, “ICON plc is a global full service clinical research organisation. The company provides contract clinical research services to the pharmaceutical industry worldwide. “

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A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. BidaskClub raised shares of Icon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Icon to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 1st. SunTrust Banks increased their price objective on shares of Icon to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $154.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, July 26th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Icon from $130.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.80.

Shares of ICLR opened at $139.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Icon has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $146.31. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.45.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 25th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.17). Icon had a net margin of 13.69% and a return on equity of 26.71%. The company had revenue of $641.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $618.64 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. analysts forecast that Icon will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ICLR. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Icon by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 39,201 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,397,000 after acquiring an additional 2,961 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Icon by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,612 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Icon during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Dean Capital Investments Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Icon by 51.0% during the 1st quarter. Dean Capital Investments Management LLC now owns 2,736 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha bought a new position in shares of Icon during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.15% of the company’s stock.

Icon Company Profile

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. It 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.

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