Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $167.28, but opened at $175.00. Icon shares last traded at $174.4160, with a volume of 104,673 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ICLR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Icon from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Icon from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Piper Sandler downgraded Icon to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Leerink Partners set a $145.00 target price on Icon in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Icon currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.73.

Icon Trading Down 2.7%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.43. The firm has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Icon

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in Icon during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of Icon in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Icon in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Icon by 21.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 391 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Icon in the third quarter worth about $71,000. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.