Stephens Inc. AR Buys 5,325 Shares of Icon Plc $ICLR

Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 102.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,325 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Icon were worth $1,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ICLR. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of Icon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EFG International AG bought a new stake in Icon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Icon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Icon in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Icon by 207.5% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 658 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Icon Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of ICLR traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $167.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 308,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 912,130. The stock has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Icon Plc has a 52 week low of $66.57 and a 52 week high of $211.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $141.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.47.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. Icon had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Icon Plc will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICLR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Icon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $159.00 to $207.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Icon from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings cut Icon from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Icon from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Icon from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Icon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.19.

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.