Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Trading Up 9.8% on Earnings Beat

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) shares traded up 9.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $157.49 and last traded at $156.6840. 188,321 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 1,510,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.67.

The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Icon had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.43 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ICLR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Icon from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Icon from $120.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Bank of America reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Icon in a research note on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group set a $160.00 price objective on Icon in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Icon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.69.

Institutional Trading of Icon

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harris Associates L P bought a new position in Icon in the second quarter valued at approximately $238,256,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Icon by 555.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,496,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $272,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268,095 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 26.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,637,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $811,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,268 shares during the period. Lyrical Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Icon in the 4th quarter valued at $176,382,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Icon in the 4th quarter valued at $160,073,000. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Icon Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $126.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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.