UPDATE: Jefferies Raises PT to $38 on ICON plc; Strategic Partnerships Paying Off

Jefferies maintained ICON plc ICLR with a Buy rating and raised the price target from $33.50 to $38.00. Jefferies analyst David Windley noted, "Bookings growth over the last year has accelerated, after trailing peers prior to mid-'11. Backlog conversion has dropped with that acceleration in bookings, falling below 11% initially, but is now rebounding. The company is in earlier stages of a maturation process that sees its business focus increasingly on a shorter list of very large clients. It is investing in IT system integration and shared service centers to support those clients." ICON plc closed at $31.74 on Monday.