Hsbc Holdings PLC Takes Position in Icon Plc $ICLR

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,028 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,012,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in Icon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EFG International AG bought a new stake in shares of Icon in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Icon in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Icon during the 4th quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Icon during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ICLR. Barclays raised their price target on Icon from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Icon from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Icon from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.19.

Icon Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Icon stock opened at $172.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Icon Plc has a 52-week low of $66.57 and a 52-week high of $211.00.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 5.35%.The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Icon Plc will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.