JPMorgan Chase & Co. Decreases Holdings in Icon Plc $ICLR

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 81.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 138,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 614,165 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.17% of Icon worth $24,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in Icon by 67.4% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,184,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,045,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,893,946 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Icon by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,752,008 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,730,000 after purchasing an additional 650,379 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Icon by 739.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,277,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $573,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886,755 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Icon by 3.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,085,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $448,858,000 after purchasing an additional 98,032 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Icon by 0.4% during the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,006,141 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $526,075,000 after acquiring an additional 12,489 shares in the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ICLR shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Icon in a report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $135.00 price objective on Icon and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho set a $216.00 target price on Icon in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Leerink Partners reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.47.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of Icon stock opened at $108.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Icon Plc has a 52 week low of $66.57 and a 52 week high of $211.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.30.

Icon Profile

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.