Equity Investment Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Icon Plc $ICLR

Equity Investment Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 623,188 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,041 shares during the period. Icon accounts for about 2.3% of Equity Investment Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Equity Investment Corp owned 0.77% of Icon worth $113,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in shares of Icon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Icon in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Icon in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Icon in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Icon by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ICLR opened at $149.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Icon Plc has a 12 month low of $66.57 and a 12 month high of $211.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.43. The stock has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.34, a PEG ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.26.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 10th. The medical research company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.05. Icon had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Icon Plc will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Leerink Partners set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Icon in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Icon from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Icon from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.44.

Icon Company 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.