Avidity Partners Management LP Purchases Shares of 33,100 Icon Plc $ICLR

Avidity Partners Management LP purchased a new stake in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 33,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,031,000. Icon comprises 1.7% of Avidity Partners Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICLR. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Icon in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Icon in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Icon in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Icon in the third quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Icon by 11.5% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Icon Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:ICLR opened at $146.18 on Friday. Icon Plc has a 52-week low of $66.57 and a 52-week high of $211.00. The stock has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $121.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.47.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 17th. The medical research company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 5.98%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Icon Plc will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Icon from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler cut Icon to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research cut Icon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $100.00 price objective on Icon and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Eight research 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, Icon has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.44.

About Icon

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.