Is ICON PLC Stock a Good Investment?

ICON PLC Investment Advice

  ICLR
To provide specific investment advice or recommendations on ICON PLC stock, we recommend investors consider the following general factors when evaluating ICON PLC. This will help you to make an informed decision on whether to include ICON PLC in one of your diversified portfolios:
  • Examine ICON PLC's financial health by looking at its balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. Analyze key financial ratios, such as Price-to-Earnings (P/E), Price-to-Sales (P/S), and Price-to-Book (P/B), to determine whether the stock is fairly valued or over/undervalued.
  • Research ICON PLC's leadership team and their track record. Good management can help ICON PLC navigate difficult times and make strategic decisions that benefit shareholders and increases its net worth.
  • Consider the overall health of the Life Sciences Tools & Services space and any emerging trends that could impact ICON PLC's business and its evolving consumer preferences.
  • Compare ICON PLC's performance and market position to its competitors. Analyze how ICON PLC is positioned in terms of product offerings, innovation, and market share.
  • Check if ICON PLC pays a dividend and its dividend yield and payout ratio.
  • Review what financial analysts are saying about ICON PLC's stock and their price targets. However, remember that analysts' opinions can vary, and their predictions may not always be accurate.
It's important to note that investing in ICON PLC stock, carries risks, and you should carefully consider your investment goals and risk tolerance before making any investment decisions. Also, remember that it's important for investors to have a long-term perspective and a well-diversified portfolio to manage the impact of stock market volatility on their investments. Below is a detailed guide on how to decide if ICON PLC is a good investment.
 
Sell
 
Buy
Cautious Hold
Macroaxis provides investment recommendation on ICON PLC to complement and cross-verify current analyst consensus on ICON PLC. Our trade recommendations engine determines the company's potential to grow exclusively from the perspective of an investor's current risk tolerance and investing horizon. To make sure ICON PLC is not overpriced, please check out all ICON PLC fundamentals, including its price to sales, book value per share, retained earnings, as well as the relationship between the cash and equivalents and target price . Given that ICON PLC has a price to earning of 33.93 X, we strongly advise you to confirm ICON PLC market performance and probability of bankruptcy to ensure the company can sustain itself for few more years given your regular risk tolerance and investing horizon.

Market Performance

Very WeakDetails

Volatility

Very steadyDetails

Hype Condition

Low keyDetails

Current Valuation

Fairly ValuedDetails

Odds Of Distress

Very LowDetails

Economic Sensitivity

Almost mirrors the marketDetails

Investor Sentiment

InterestedDetails

Analyst Consensus

Strong BuyDetails

Financial Strenth (F Score)

StrongDetails

Financial Leverage

Not RatedDetails

Reporting Quality (M-Score)

Unlikely ManipulatorDetails

Examine ICON PLC Stock

Researching ICON PLC's stock involves analyzing various aspects of the company and its industry to make an informed investment decision. The key areas to focus on are fundamentals, business model and competitive advantage. It is also important to analyze trends in revenue, net income, and cash flow, as well as key financial ratios, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and debt-to-equity (D/E). About 99.0% of the company shares are owned by institutional investors. The company has price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 1.67. Some equities with similar Price to Book (P/B) outperform the market in the long run. ICON PLC has Price/Earnings To Growth (PEG) ratio of 0.93. The entity recorded earning per share (EPS) of 9.0. The firm had not issued any dividends in recent years. ICON PLC had 2:1 split on the 13th of August 2008.
To determine if ICON PLC is a good investment, evaluating the company's potential for future growth is also very important. This may include expanding into new markets, launching new products or services, or improving operational efficiency. Companies with strong growth prospects can be more attractive investments. This aspect of the research should be conducted in the context of the overall market and industry in which the company operates and should include an analysis of growth potential, competitive landscape, and any regulatory or economic factors that could impact the business. Some of the essential points regarding ICON PLC's research are outlined below:
ICON PLC generated a negative expected return over the last 90 days
ICON PLC has a strong financial position based on the latest SEC filings
Over 99.0% of the company shares are owned by institutional investors
Latest headline from news.google.com: Clinical Research Giant ICON Announces Critical Q4 Results Timeline - StockTitan

ICON PLC Quarterly Accounts Payable

106.17 Million

ICON PLC uses earnings reports to provide investors with an update of all three financial statements, including the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. Therefore, it is also crucial when considering investing in ICON PLC. Every quarterly earnings report provides investors with an overview of sales, expenses, and net income for the most recent period. It also may provide a comparison to ICON PLC's previous reporting period. The quarterly earnings reports are usually disseminated to the public via Form 10-Q, which is a legal document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission every quarter.
28th of February 2024
Upcoming Quarterly Report
View
24th of April 2024
Next Financial Report
View
31st of December 2023
Next Fiscal Quarter End
View
28th of February 2024
Next Fiscal Year End
View
30th of September 2023
Last Quarter Report
View
31st of December 2022
Last Financial Announcement
View
Earnings surprises can significantly impact ICON PLC's stock price both in the short term and over time. Negative earnings surprises usually result in a price decline. However, it has been seen that positive earnings surprises lead to an immediate rise in a stock's price and a gradual increase over time. This is why we often hear news about some companies beating earning projections. Financial analysts spend a large amount of time predicting earnings per share (EPS) along with other important future indicators. Many analysts use forecasting models, management guidance, and additional fundamental information to derive an EPS estimate. Below are the table of largest EPS Surprises ICON PLC's investors have experienced.
Reported
Fiscal Date
Estimated EPS
Reported EPS
Surprise
2011-10-27
2011-09-300.010.020.01100 
2003-09-30
2003-06-300.10.110.0110 
2002-07-30
2002-06-300.070.080.0114 
1999-07-28
1999-06-300.030.040.0133 
1999-03-30
1998-12-310.040.050.0125 
2012-02-16
2011-12-310.090.07-0.0222 
2007-02-13
2006-12-310.180.20.0211 
2006-07-26
2006-06-300.140.160.0214 

ICON PLC Target Price Consensus

ICON target price is determined by taking all analyst projections and averaging them out. There is no one specific way to measure analysts' performance other than comparing it to past results via a very sophisticated attribution analysis. ICON PLC's target price projections below should be used in combination with other traditional price prediction techniques such as stock price forecasting, investor sentiment analysis, technical analysis, earnings estimate, and various momentum models.
   18  Strong Buy
Most ICON analysts issue ratings four times a year, at intervals of three months. Ratings are usually accompanied by a target price to help potential investors understand ICON stock's fair price compared to its market value. Analysts arrive at stock ratings after researching the public financial statements of ICON PLC, talking to its executives and customers, or listening to those companies' conference calls.
Macroaxis Advice   Exposure   Valuation

ICON PLC Target Price Projection

ICON PLC's current and average target prices are 201.72 and 268.12, respectively. The current price of ICON PLC is the price at which ICON PLC is currently trading. On the other hand, ICON PLC's target price is what analysts think the stock is worth or could sell for in the future. The more significant the discrepancy between the two prices, the more it stimulates investors to act.

Current Price

ICON PLC Market Quote on 30th of January 2025

Low Price198.12Odds
High Price201.72Odds

201.72

Target Price

Analyst Consensus On ICON PLC Target Price

Low Estimate243.99Odds
High Estimate297.62Odds

268.125

Historical Lowest Forecast  243.99 Target Price  268.13 Highest Forecast  297.62
Note that most analysts generally publish their price targets in research reports on specific companies, along with recommendations for the company's stock.Although price targets are often quoted in the financial news media, there could be a delay between the publication of the latest analyst outlook on ICON PLC and the information provided on this page.

ICON PLC Analyst Ratings

ICON PLC's analyst stock recommendations are determined by taking an average estimate of all analysts we track and classifying them as Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Strong Sell, or Sell. Ratings generally communicate what analysts sense about ICON PLC stock, and they use a lot of effort and time to analyze it and arrive at a rating. That suggests that analyst recommendations are the outcome of an objective and thorough examination of ICON PLC's financials, market performance, and future outlook by experienced professionals. ICON PLC's historical ratings below, therefore, can serve as a valuable tool for investors.

Know ICON PLC's Top Institutional Investors

Have you ever been surprised when a price of an equity instrument such as ICON PLC is soaring high without any particular reason? This is usually happening because many institutional investors are aggressively trading ICON PLC backward and forwards among themselves. ICON PLC's institutional investor refers to the entity that pools money to purchase ICON PLC's securities or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial and private banks, credit unions, insurance companies, pension funds, hedge funds, endowments, and mutual funds. Operating companies that invest excess capital in these types of assets may also be included in the term and may influence corporate governance by exercising voting rights in their investments.
Shares
Franklin Resources Inc2024-09-30
1.4 M
Sustainable Growth Advisers, Lp2024-09-30
1.3 M
Alliancebernstein L.p.2024-09-30
1.3 M
Victory Capital Management Inc.2024-09-30
1.3 M
Bank Of America Corp2024-09-30
1.3 M
William Blair Investment Management, Llc2024-09-30
1.3 M
Comgest Global Investors Sas2024-09-30
1.2 M
Hhg Plc2024-09-30
1.2 M
Blackrock Inc2024-09-30
1.2 M
Wcm Investment Management2024-09-30
6.7 M
Massachusetts Financial Services Company2024-09-30
4.1 M
Note, although ICON PLC's institutional investors appear to be way more sophisticated than retail investors, it remains unclear if professional active investment managers can reliably enhance risk-adjusted returns by an amount that exceeds fees and expenses.

ICON PLC's market capitalization trends

The company currently falls under 'Large-Cap' category with a current market capitalization of 16.36 B.

Market Cap

21.96 Billion

ICON PLC's profitablity analysis

Last ReportedProjected for Next Year
Return On Tangible Assets 0.13  0.10 
Return On Capital Employed 0.08  0.15 
Return On Assets 0.04  0.04 
Return On Equity 0.06  0.11 
The company has Profit Margin (PM) of 0.09 %, which maeans that even a very small decline in it revenue will erase profits resulting in a net loss. This is way below average. Similarly, it shows Operating Margin (OM) of 0.14 %, which suggests for every 100 dollars of sales, it generated a net operating income of $0.14.
Determining ICON PLC's profitability involves analyzing its financial statements and using various financial metrics to determine if ICON PLC is a good buy. For example, gross profit margin measures ICON PLC's profitability after accounting for the cost of goods sold, while net profit margin measures profitability after accounting for all expenses. Other important metrics include return on assets, return on equity, and free cash flow. By reviewing multiple sources and metrics, you can gain a complete picture of ICON PLC's profitability and make more informed investment decisions.

ICON PLC's Earnings Breakdown by Geography

Evaluate ICON PLC's management efficiency

ICON PLC has return on total asset (ROA) of 0.0417 % which means that it generated a profit of $0.0417 on every $100 spent on assets. This is way below average. Similarly, it shows a return on stockholder's equity (ROE) of 0.0799 %, meaning that it created $0.0799 on every $100 dollars invested by stockholders. ICON PLC's management efficiency ratios could be used to measure how well ICON PLC manages its routine affairs as well as how well it operates its assets and liabilities. At this time, ICON PLC's Return On Capital Employed is relatively stable compared to the past year. As of 01/30/2025, Return On Equity is likely to grow to 0.11, while Return On Tangible Assets are likely to drop 0.1. At this time, ICON PLC's Debt To Assets are relatively stable compared to the past year. As of 01/30/2025, Asset Turnover is likely to grow to 0.94, though Net Tangible Assets are likely to grow to (4.1 B).
Last ReportedProjected for Next Year
Book Value Per Share 101.30  106.36 
Tangible Book Value Per Share(50.95)(48.40)
Enterprise Value Over EBITDA 15.85  8.93 
Price Book Value Ratio 2.26  2.02 
Enterprise Value Multiple 15.85  8.93 
Price Fair Value 2.26  2.02 
Enterprise Value24.1 B25.3 B
The decision-making processes within ICON PLC are key to its success in a competitive market. By evaluating these processes, we assess the stock's potential for future gains.
Beta
1.251

Basic technical analysis of ICON Stock

As of the 30th of January, ICON PLC retains the market risk adjusted performance of (0.50), and Coefficient Of Variation of (735.06). ICON PLC technical analysis makes it possible for you to employ historical prices and volume momentum with the intention to determine a pattern that calculates the direction of the entity's future prices. Please check out ICON PLC information ratio and skewness to decide if ICON PLC is priced fairly, providing market reflects its last-minute price of 201.72 per share. Given that ICON PLC has information ratio of (0.16), we strongly advise you to confirm ICON PLC's regular market performance to make sure the company can sustain itself in the future.

ICON PLC's Outstanding Corporate Bonds

ICON PLC issues bonds to finance its operations. Corporate bonds make up one of the largest components of the U.S. bond market, which is considered the world's largest securities market. ICON PLC uses the proceeds from bond sales for a wide variety of purposes, including financing ongoing mergers and acquisitions, buying new equipment, investing in research and development, buying back their own stock, paying dividends to shareholders, and even refinancing existing debt. Most ICON bonds can be classified according to their maturity, which is the date when ICON PLC has to pay back the principal to investors. Maturities can be short-term, medium-term, or long-term (more than ten years). Longer-term bonds usually offer higher interest rates but may entail additional risks.

Understand ICON PLC's technical and predictive indicators

Using predictive indicators to make investment decisions involves analyzing ICON PLC's various financial and market-based factors to help forecast future trends and identify investment opportunities. Select the indicators that are most relevant to your investment strategy. Each indicator has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it's essential to combine multiple indicators to get a more comprehensive view of the market and reduce the risk of making poor decisions based on limited data.

Consider ICON PLC's intraday indicators

ICON PLC intraday indicators are useful technical analysis tools used by many experienced traders. Just like the conventional technical analysis, daily indicators help intraday investors to analyze the price movement with the timing of ICON PLC stock daily movement. By combining multiple daily indicators into a single trading strategy, you can limit your risk while still earning strong returns on your managed positions.

ICON PLC Corporate Filings

6K
29th of January 2025
A report filed by foreign private issuers with SEC. A foreign private issuer is a non-U.S. company with securities traded on U.S. exchanges.
ViewVerify
13A
12th of November 2024
An amended filing to the original Schedule 13G
ViewVerify
2nd of May 2024
Other Reports
ViewVerify
ICON PLC time-series forecasting models is one of many ICON PLC's stock analysis techniques aimed to predict future share value based on previously observed values. Time-series forecasting models ae widely used for non-stationary data. Non-stationary data are called the data whose statistical properties e.g. the mean and standard deviation are not constant over time but instead, these metrics vary over time. These non-stationary ICON PLC's historical data is usually called time-series. Some empirical experimentation suggests that the statistical forecasting models outperform the models based exclusively on fundamental analysis to predict the direction of the market movement and maximize returns from investment trading.

ICON Stock media impact

Far too much social signal, news, headlines, and media speculation about ICON PLC that are available to investors today. That information is available publicly through ICON media outlets and privately through word of mouth or via ICON internal channels. However, regardless of the origin, that massive amount of ICON data is challenging to quantify into actionable patterns, especially for investors that are not very sophisticated with ever-evolving tools and techniques used in the investment management field.
A primary focus of ICON PLC news analysis is to determine if its current price reflects all relevant headlines and social signals impacting the current market conditions. A news analyst typically looks at the history of ICON PLC relative headlines and hype rather than examining external drivers such as technical or fundamental data. It is believed that price action tends to repeat itself due to investors' collective, patterned thinking related to ICON PLC's headlines and news coverage data. This data is often completely overlooked or insufficiently analyzed for actionable insights to drive ICON PLC alpha.

ICON PLC Sentiment by Major News Outlets

Investor sentiment, mood or attitude towards ICON PLC can have a significant impact on its stock price or the market as a whole. This sentiment can be positive or negative, and various factors, such as economic indicators, news events, or market trends, can influence it. When investor sentiment is positive, investors are more likely to buy stocks, increasing demand and increasing the stock price. Positive investor sentiment can be driven by good news about the company or the broader market, such as solid earnings reports or positive economic data.
Note that negative investor sentiment can cause investors to sell stocks, leading to a decrease in demand and a drop in the stock price. Negative sentiment can be driven by factors such as poor earnings reports, negative news about the company or industry, or broader economic concerns. It's important to note that investor sentiment is just one of many factors that can affect stock prices. Other factors, such as company performance, industry trends, and global economic conditions, can also play a significant role in determining the value of a stock.

ICON PLC Historical Investor Sentiment

Investor biases related to ICON PLC's public news can be used to forecast risks associated with an investment in ICON. The trend in average sentiment can be used to explain how an investor holding ICON can time the market purely based on public headlines and social activities around ICON PLC. Please note that most equities that are difficult to arbitrage are affected by market sentiment the most.
ICON PLC's market sentiment shows the aggregated news analyzed to detect positive and negative mentions from the text and comments. The data is normalized to provide daily scores for ICON PLC and other traded tickers. The bigger the bubble, the more accurate the estimated score. Higher bars for a given day show more participation in the average ICON PLC news discussions. The higher the estimate score, the more favorable the investor's outlook on ICON PLC.

ICON PLC Maximum Pain Price Across April 17th 2025 Option Contracts

ICON PLC's options can also be used to analyze investors' bias and current market sentiment in the context of behavioral finance. For example, Max pain usually refers to a trading concept that asserts that market manipulation can cause the market price of ICON PLC close to the expiration of its current option contract to expire worthlessly. According to most research, about 35% of options are not executed, with roughly 50% traded out before expiration. So, Max pain occurs when market makers reach a net favorable position across all options at a strike price where option holders stand to lose the most money. By contrast, option sellers may reap the most after selling more options than buying, causing them to expire worthlessly. Please continue to view the detailed analysis of ICON PLC's options.

ICON PLC Corporate Management

Barry BalfeChief OfficerProfile
Nigel ACAChief OfficerProfile
Dr MBACEO DirectorProfile
Jonathan CurtainSenior FinanceProfile
Niamh MurphyDirector CommunicationsProfile

Additional Tools for ICON Stock Analysis

When running ICON PLC's price analysis, check to measure ICON PLC's market volatility, profitability, liquidity, solvency, efficiency, growth potential, financial leverage, and other vital indicators. We have many different tools that can be utilized to determine how healthy ICON PLC is operating at the current time. Most of ICON PLC's value examination focuses on studying past and present price action to predict the probability of ICON PLC's future price movements. You can analyze the entity against its peers and the financial market as a whole to determine factors that move ICON PLC's price. Additionally, you may evaluate how the addition of ICON PLC to your portfolios can decrease your overall portfolio volatility.