Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Raised to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $135.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $175.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 29.70% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ICLR. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Mizuho set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research note on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen raised Icon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $183.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $100.00 target price on Icon and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $222.00 price target (down from $231.00) on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.47.

Icon Trading Down 0.5%

Icon stock opened at $104.09 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $163.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.63. Icon has a one year low of $66.57 and a one year high of $211.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Icon

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Icon in the 3rd quarter valued at $12,857,000. Mitchell Capital Management Co. purchased a new position in Icon in the third quarter valued at $1,627,000. First National Bank of Omaha acquired a new position in shares of Icon in the third quarter worth about $6,267,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Icon by 84.5% in the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 5,381 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 480,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $84,018,000 after acquiring an additional 65,264 shares in 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.