Sands Capital Management LLC Sells 2,774 Shares of Icon Plc $ICLR

Sands Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 91,550 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,774 shares during the quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Icon worth $13,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in Icon by 67.4% in the second 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Icon in the second quarter worth about $158,639,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in 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 worth $545,730,000 after buying an additional 650,379 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp bought a new stake in Icon during the 2nd quarter valued at about $82,264,000. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Icon in the 2nd quarter valued at about $67,663,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Leerink Partners set a $220.00 price objective on Icon in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Icon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $184.00 to $236.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Icon in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $175.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Icon in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.00.

Icon Trading Up 1.9%

ICLR opened at $183.14 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.22. Icon Plc has a 12 month low of $125.10 and a 12 month high of $228.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $175.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.76.

Icon Profile

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies.