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

Leerink Partners restated their market perform rating on shares of Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. Leerink Partners currently has a $105.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ICLR. Zacks Research raised Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Icon in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Icon from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $217.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.93.

Icon Trading Down 39.9%

ICLR stock opened at $80.08 on Thursday. Icon has a 1-year low of $66.57 and a 1-year high of $211.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $177.79 and its 200-day moving average is $175.61. The firm has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.27.

Institutional Trading of Icon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 67.4% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,184,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,045,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,893,946 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Icon by 26.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,637,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $811,499,000 after buying an additional 975,268 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Icon by 21.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,752,008 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,730,000 after acquiring an additional 650,379 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Icon by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,427,630 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $599,835,000 after acquiring an additional 341,637 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Icon by 739.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,277,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $573,526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886,755 shares during the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Icon

Here are the key news stories impacting Icon this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating with a $105 price target, which is materially above the current price and provides some analyst support for a recovery. Leerink Partners note
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest notices in the data feed show anomalous “0 shares / NaN” values for February filings; the reported days-to-cover is 0.0, but the figures appear unreliable and shouldn’t be interpreted as a clear short squeeze signal.
• Negative Sentiment: ICON disclosed an Audit Committee–led internal investigation into accounting practices covering fiscal 2023–2025, and delayed release of Q4 & full-year 2025 results — the core driver of today’s selloff. ICON plc Provides Update on Timing of Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Earnings Results and Investigation into Accounting Practices
• Negative Sentiment: Media and legal alerts report that multiple plaintiff firms (Hagens Berman, Rosen Law, Holzer & Holzer, Ademi LLP, Block & Leviton, Johnson Fistel and others) have launched or encouraged inquiries into potential securities claims — increasing the risk of litigation, fees and management distraction. Hagens Berman report
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage and market commentary note that ICON pulled its 2025 outlook amid the probe — raising near-term earnings uncertainty and raising the odds of downward revisions by analysts. Seeking Alpha: ICON pulls 2025 outlook amid ongoing probe
• Negative Sentiment: Price-action coverage highlights a large intraday selloff and heavy volume after the disclosure; investor sentiment and liquidity concerns are likely to persist until the investigation concludes and audited results are released. Investing.com: ICON stock plummets

Icon Company Profile

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.