ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $217.99, but opened at $199.39. ICON Public shares last traded at $204.75, with a volume of 184,788 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of ICON Public in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on ICON Public in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $263.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of ICON Public from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on ICON Public from $360.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $284.00 price objective (down from $295.00) on shares of ICON Public in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.00.

ICON Public Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $211.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.81. The stock has a market cap of $16.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.20.

ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.72 by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. ICON Public had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 9.00%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that ICON Public Limited will post 13.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of ICON Public in the 2nd quarter worth $54,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ICON Public by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 394 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in ICON Public by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 433 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in ICON Public by 23.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 511 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in ICON Public by 33.9% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 597 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ICON Public Company Profile

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.