ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $183.39, but opened at $178.00. ICON Public shares last traded at $178.08, with a volume of 144,807 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ICLR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of ICON Public in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of ICON Public from $284.00 to $262.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (down previously from $270.00) on shares of ICON Public in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of ICON Public from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of ICON Public in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.17.

ICON Public Trading Up 3.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $196.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $231.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.21.

ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.01. ICON Public had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 11.81%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ICON Public Limited will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICON Public

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc purchased a new stake in ICON Public during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,672,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its position in ICON Public by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 97,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $20,363,000 after purchasing an additional 28,050 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ICON Public by 861.1% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,215 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,797,000 after acquiring an additional 11,840 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ICON Public by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 177,761 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,279,000 after purchasing an additional 11,177 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in ICON Public by 472.2% during the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 6,174 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ICON Public

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company 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.