Capital World Investors Buys 1,268,095 Shares of Icon Plc $ICLR

Capital World Investors increased its stake in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 555.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,496,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,268,095 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned 1.85% of Icon worth $272,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Icon in the second quarter worth approximately $254,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Icon by 19.3% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 28,145 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,094,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Icon by 97.6% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 71,360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,379,000 after purchasing an additional 35,253 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Icon in the second quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Icon by 58.7% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 781 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Icon Stock Up 1.9%

ICLR opened at $152.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Icon Plc has a fifty-two week low of $66.57 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $118.50 and its 200 day moving average is $140.68. The stock has a market cap of $11.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ICLR. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Icon from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Icon to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Icon from $139.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Icon from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Icon currently has a consensus 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.